Undercover
by Melipo
Summary: Modern. Elizabeth Bennet grew up with these gangsters and drug dealers she calls friends. Unmotivated but determined to make her father proud; she's working towards a better life. Detective Darcy will stop at nothing to take down Wickham, who has been linked to the disappearance of several young women. Fate and a momentary lapse of judgment threw them together, but for how long?
1. Chapter 1

When he walked into the diner about a half hour ago, she guessed from her vantage point that he stood a few inches above six feet. He was broad shouldered and, although he was hunched over reading a newspaper, from what she could see under his leather jacket he was fit. Not in a body-building type of way; if she had to guess, she would say he worked out for his health and not his appearance. That was good; in her opinion there wasn't much to be done to make his appearance any more desirable. His black hair was wavy, just borderline on being called curly, and fell below his ears. She was happy to see it wasn't gelled back as she had seen so many guys do, but actually trimmed in a way where it stayed out of his eyes naturally. It would probably be a disservice to call him unkempt, but she wouldn't be surprised to learn he had slept in those clothes, or possible hadn't slept at all, if the five o'clock shadow on his cheek was any indication. Every time the diner door opened he looked up from his coffee and newspaper and away from her, then right back down again. It was when he was turning that the florescent light hit his face just right and she noticed a scar about an inch long right underneath his right eye. There was also just something about him and his easy, methodical movements that exuded an alpha male demeanor. All and all, his appearance hit her just right and she couldn't help thinking he was probably the hottest guy she had seen in a while, and certainly way out of her league. She had also been staring way, _way_ too long.

"Liz." A clunk to her left let her know something had been set down on the table. After a beat, Lizzy tore her gaze away from the hottie at the counter to look up at her best friend. She was looking down at Lizzy with a knowing look, but was silent so far. It was times like these, when Charlotte had that look in her eye, that she reminded Lizzy most of her brother. They were fraternal twins, but shared strikingly similar features. They both kept their hair short, both stood several inches above Lizzy's 5'7 frame, and both had impossibly light brown eyes that shone especially bright against their dark skin. Jeremiah was brawn where Charlotte could be described as wispy, but that was really their biggest difference.

"Char?" Lizzy raised her eyebrow in question at the ice water. "It's forty degrees outside. I asked for coffee."

"I know." Charlotte smirked and Lizzy leaned back in her chair, waiting for it. "But you seemed a little flushed." Charlotte glanced at the guy Lizzy had been staring at for the past half hour. Unlike Lizzy, Charlotte managed to look away after a brief moment. "I wasn't sure whether to throw it on you or have you drink it."

"Don't be dramatic." Lizzy rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile and glance back at the guy.

"Been awhile?" Charlotte asked, chuckling low.

"You're my roommate. You know the answer to that." Lizzy replied, mentally calculating exactly how long it had been. "Anyway. It's not a crime to look. You're telling me you don't think the view is worth it?" Liz looked back up at Charlotte, a challenge in her eye. Charlotte glanced at man in question once more but returned her gaze to her friend after a brief moment.

"He's hot." Charlotte allowed. "But he's no Shemar Moore."

"Shemar Moore?" Lizzy feigned confusion. "Who?"

"Don't even." Charlotte pointed a finger at her in warning until Lizzy cracked a smile. Charlotte didn't have much free time between the business side of the diner and the waitressing side, but what little spare time she did have was spent parked in front of the couch on Wednesday nights watching Criminal Minds, featuring the love of her life Shemar Moore.

"You know him or something?" Charlotte questioned, turning the conversation back to the man in question. Lizzy scoffed, daring to look at the Adonis at the counter once more.

"No. Do you?" She questioned hopefully.

"Nope. Never seen him in here before." Charlotte replied. Lizzy had to admit she was disappointed.

"Miss?" A customer called for her attention and Lizzy's friend walked off without comment. She liked spending her mornings in Charlotte's dingy diner. In truth, Charlotte didn't own it yet, but she had been making payments to the current owner, who was glad to be rid of it, for a number of years and was very close to being able to call it her own. She envied Charlotte sometimes, for knowing exactly what she wanted in life and going after it. Lizzy was in school earning a degree, but she didn't feel passionate about anything the way Charlotte loved her diner.

Lizzy's eyes were drawn back to the Adonis as he glanced once more at the door, then back at his paper. She sighed, mumbled "screw it" to herself, grabbed her water and made her way over to the counter. She set her glass down and took the seat to the left of him, leaving a space between them for her own dignity. This close to him, she could smell his cologne and was grateful she was keeping her distance, sort to speak. He glanced at her as she sat down and she gave him a smile and a cheerful "Morning." He looked her up and down, _actually looked her up and down_, and then let out a breath that could have been a laugh before shaking his head and looking back at his paper.

"Wow. Excuse me for breathing." She couldn't help but laugh at his audacity. She turned her head and took a sip of her water, immediately regretting her decision to come over here. He could have been her ideal man, a perfect '_what if_?' story in her mind; but then she had to ruin everything by actually engaging him and thus shattering the image.

"Forgive me for not being more open to a woman who has been staring at me the entire time I've been sitting here." He said, his voice low and bored, without even looking at her.

"What? I have not. Dream on loser." She scoffed, blushing and protesting way too much. He looked at her once more, barely inclining his head towards her as he did so. He raised his eyebrow, the right one that housed a scar underneath it. She rolled her eyes. "So you're observant. Congratulations." He smiled, or looked as close to smiling as possible, and then looked down to his paper once more. "But, you know" she added, gazing at her glass of water as she stirred her straw aimlessly, a smug smile already on her face. "I'm pretty observant myself."

"Oh?" he asked, still not looking at her. The door opened once more and once more he glanced at it and then back at his paper.

"You're waiting for someone." She pointed out. He didn't acknowledge her. "Girlfriend?" Still he was silent. "Boyfriend?" he looked at her, and she turned to see a scoffing look on his face for an instant before he looked back down. "Hmm." A man pulled up on a motorcycle across the street. He took his helmet off, but stayed on his bike to smoke a cigarette. Lizzy stood and pulled out a few bills from her pocket, laying it down next to her still full water glass. "I noticed something else, too."

"Really?" he asked, letting a breath out in what was clearly an exasperated manor.

"Yeah. You've never been here before, you're clearly waiting for someone, and, most importantly…" here she paused to reach over and poke him in the side. Her hand met something solid "You're wearing a gun." He grabbed her arm, twisting it away from him. She winced and he immediately let it go. "Nice reflexes, cop" she said loudly, shaking her wrist. Two men looked up from a booth in the back, then immediately got up and left through the backdoor.

He gave her a surprised look before scowling, turning at once back to his newspaper. "In my experience, only two kinds of people recognize cops. Other cops, and…"

"Criminals." She finished for him, smiling and tilting her head. "So which one am I?" He looked her up and down again and picked up his paper, shaking it out and hunching over it once more; clearly letting her surmise his answer.

"So," she walked around him so she was between him and the door. Charlotte was back behind the counter and refilling the officers coffee cup. Lizzy gave her a look, which Charlotte returned with one of her own, but handed her a backpack from behind the counter. "You must be staking the place out. Looking for a dangerous criminal."

"Ma'am. I am simply trying to enjoy my coffee." He growled at her. That was the only way to describe the tone he used. She rolled her eyes once more, taking a moment to mourn the loss of what could have been.

"Too bad." She shouldered her backpack, tied her hair back in a messy ponytail and took once last look before backing out the door. "Start the bike up, Ray." The cop at the counter glanced up, surprise once more clearly written on his face as he looked from Lizzy's grin to the man on the bike across the street who was doing what she told him. Officer Adonis jumped up, reacting faster than Lizzy thought he would. She had to sprint to the man on the motorcycle and practically jump onto the back of his bike. "Liz what the hell?"

"Cop, cop, cop!" Lizzy hit his shoulder in an effort to hurry him, but at her words he took off so fast she had to grab onto him so she didn't fall off the back of the bike. Lizzy looked back at the cop who was now chasing them, calling out "Stop! Police!" She grinned, daringly blowing him a kiss. He followed them on foot for a few seconds, but quickly turned, jogging instead to an unmarked black sedan parked on the side of the road.

"Lose him now or we are busted." Lizzy said Ray's ear. Her heart pounded in her ear as the adrenaline rushed through her body.

"I got it. Don't back seat drive girl." Ray called back, taking a sharp right turn down an alleyway. Lizzy held on tighter. "Where the hell did he come from?"

"He was waiting for you at Char's." Liz said, feeling proud of herself. "You owe me."

"Yeah, yeah." A few more sharp turns, and they were pulling up to a house Lizzy vaguely recognized.

"Ugh, really?" Lizzy asked, sliding off the bike. "This guy?"

"He's not so bad." Ray grinned at her. "I'm stashing this in the back. You coming?"

"You were supposed to take me to school." She crossed her arms. "I don't think you know what owing someone one means."

"Come on, I told you those cops have been sniffing around for me for some reason, I can't help it that they have terrible timing." Ray shrugged. He was probably her best friend, after Charlotte and her sister Jane, but she was never delusional enough to think of his as exactly dependable. Even for a ride to school, she asked him to be an hour early, just in case.

"Forget it. I'll walk." Lizzy sighed.

"Don't be like that Liz, maybe George will-" Ray started but she cut him off.

"No way. I know that guy well enough to know I don't want to owe him a favor." Liz replied, looking up at the house. The curtain was pulled back and someone, she couldn't tell who, was watching them. She gave a smile and a wave, because she had always found it was better to be friendly and open around paranoid drug addicts.

"He's not that bad." Ray gave her a disapproving look.

"Still. I'll catch you later." Lizzy said with a wave, heading up the walk wasn't so bad, as cold as it was. Her heart sped up anything she heard a car approaching, assuming it was the cop still looking for her and Ray, but he never showed. For this added incentive, she made good time- only ten minutes late to class.

The rest of the day passed pretty normally, considering the excitement of that morning. Lizzy had two classes that day, physics and developmental psychology. College had just started, so there wasn't that much to be done yet. She had already read over the chapter they were covering in class, or more accurately skimmed it for the important details, so the lecture portion was just a matter of keeping up and taking notes. Both classes were interesting, in their own way; her Psychology class more so than physics, but that also had to do with the teachers. Developmental psych was taught by a man who had been in the field for thirty years and had been teaching for ten. He knew his stuff and knew the best way to deliver the material. For physics, her teacher was a younger man who had only been teaching for a few years, and who was used to teaching chemistry more than physics. He knew the material, but tended to throw in things that they would be covering in a higher level physics course, and most of the time it ended up losing half the class. She was keeping up, for the most part, but worried about being prepared for upcoming tests.

Afterwards she took the bus to a doctor's office where she was temping for the last day. She was supposed to have stopped before classes started but the girl who she had been filling in for decided not to come back, for whatever reason, and the head nurse begged her to stay on for one more week until they found a replacement. She couldn't refuse, and the money was pretty good, so she spent five hours, from one to six, sorting and alphabetizing patient files, answering phones, and sending faxes, all while mentally memorizing the formulas they had gone over in physics that morning. She had been up late the night before finishing all her homework so she could have tonight free; by the time she was making her way home, all she wanted was to veg out in front of their crappy TV set on their crappy couch and eat some crappy food.

She was rounding the corner, dreaming of warm pajamas and hot chocolate, when she spotted the cop from the diner that morning leaning up against the fence next to her building. She felt a thrill go through her at the sight of him before reality came crashing down on why he was there. She considered backtracking and slipping in through the back way, but ultimately knew he had nothing on her. She had no idea how he found her, but she was sure all he wanted from her was to question where Ray was.

"Officer." She said as she walked up. She already had his attention; he had been scowling at her since she started walking towards him.

"I could arrest you, you know." He frowned at her, arms crossed and looking very menacing. She laughed despite being a little bit afraid he just might do it.

"For what? Pissing you off?" she asked, mirroring his stance.

"Obstruction of justice." he replied, pausing just long enough so that it sunk in. "Are you familiar with this man?" he asked, pulling a picture out of his inside jacket pocket. She took it from him, angling it towards a streetlight. It was a mugshot of Ray sporting a black eye. She placed it as his arrest a few years ago. They had been drinking at a bar together and Ray, who was essentially brother she never had, had gotten into it with some random guy who wouldn't leave her alone. The man decked him, but took off before Ray could have retribution. Ray had found out who he was the next day; he paid the guy a visit and trashed his car, boosting the stereo for kicks. The police caught him on the way to pawning it. Just as she had suspected, all he wanted from her was to find Ray.

"Yes." Lizzy sighed, shifting her bag higher up on her shoulder. Officer Adonis looked surprised at her honesty.

"And… his whereabouts?" He asked, pulling out a hand sized notebook and clicking a pen.

"No idea." Lizzy replied.

"Of course." He sighed, tapping his pen against the back of the notebook. "Listen, miss-"

"Officer." She interrupted him. "If this going to take any longer, can we at least go inside? I'm going numb." He considered her for a minute. "It was a long walk home." She added, giving him a pitiful look. He finally gave a short nod. "How did you find me anyway?"

"It wasn't difficult" was all he would say as they made their way up the three floor walk up to the apartment she shared with Charlotte. She unlocked the door, tossing her bag just inside but turning to him before heading in.

"I should probably see a badge before I let some strange man into my apartment." She grinned up at him, leaning against the door frame. He frowned at her, a dubious look on his face. "Hey man. All I know is you have a gun and you followed me home."

He sighed, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a black wallet sized badge. She took it from him gleefully, flipping it open to see a gold shield on one side and his identification on the other. "Wow. Excuse me- _detective_ Darcy." He took the badge back from her and gestured to the open doorway. She backed up so he could enter, and then closed the door behind him, shedding her overcoat and messenger bag that held her books from school.

"Do you want something to drink? Water, coffee, hot chocolate?" she offered, heading right for the kitchen.

"No. Any idea where Alester 'Ray' Reynolds would be tonight?" He asked, thumbing his notebook.

"I already said I didn't." She filled a saucepan with milk and put it on the stove. It wasn't strictly true. She could probably name about three possibilities of where her friend would be tonight and know he could be found at one of them, but Ray was her friend after all, and this detective was keeping her from the veg out she so richly deserved. "The last I saw him he dropped me off at Grove and Bell." She added this information to seem helpful, she knew for certainty that he wouldn't be back there tonight.

"Grove and Bell?" He perked up. "Any chance you know this man?" he pulled another picture out of his pocket and handed to her. She sighed, looking it over, and then grimaced. This picture was a lot more worn and a lot more recent.

"Unfortunately." She said. "George Wickham. Kind of a sleazebag, but harmless."

"Not as harmless as you might think." He commented with a dark look, then asked "Did you come in contact with him today?"

"No." she said, turning back to her hot chocolate mix.

"You got dropped off at his house but didn't come in contact with him?" he asked, clearly skeptical. She poured the milk into the mix, stirring and blowing on it as she came around the counter to sink gratefully into the couch.

"Look, detective. Ray picked me up from the diner and was supposed to give me a ride to school-"

"School?" he questioned, writing in his notebook.

"Yes." She replied, looking up at him. He stared back, silent. "I go to the community college." He wrote something down, but still stared at her, silent. "Geez, I'm taking classes to get my bachelors, okay? Is that really relevant?" Apparently so. He wrote it down.

"So after tipping Reynolds off that I was waiting to question him and fleeing from a police officer, Reynolds takes you to Wickham's place, where you don't actually see Wickham? Am I correct so far?" Darcy questioned. He was tapping his pen on his notebook again; it seemed like an impatient and unconscious gesture.

"I might have seen him, actually." She squinted into her cup, remembering that morning. "We pulled up to his place and there was someone in the window looking out, but I couldn't tell who it was." Lizzy sat back, sipping her hot chocolate. It wasn't ideal, but she was finally where she wanted to be all day. If only this cop would get lost, so she could change into something more comfortable. She thought of what the look on his face might be if she told him that she just wanted to slip into something a little more comfortable and almost snorted into her cup.

"This is very important." The detective crouched down close to her, a grave look on his face. The amusement drained out of her by his seriousness. "Did you see George Wickham today?"

"I told you I haven't." She replied emphatically. "Like I said, the guy isn't my favorite, so any chance I have to avoid him I take it." Lizzy explained. He nodded, looking down in thought, but didn't back off. "He's Ray's friend." She shrugged. Why did she feel the need to say that?

"And you're Ray's friend." He commented, looking back up at her.

"So?" she questioned, affronted. He flipped through his notebook, glancing at what was written there.

"No arrest record, but you sure do pop up on the radar in connection to a lot of dirt bags." He said, standing up and began surveying her crappy apartment.

"Dirt bags?" She echoed, insulted. "Nice."

"How well do you know George Wickham?" he questioned. She signed, swirling the dregs of her not so hot chocolate and wondering why she didn't sneak in the back way after all.

"I don't know. I've met him a few times." She replied.

"Listen, Miss Bennet…" Darcy started. Lizzy groaned, looking at the ceiling in irritation.

"Look, detective. I know you want me to be his bff so I could give you whatever dirt you want on him, but-" Lizzy started, but fell silent when he stepped in front of her once more.

"Two women are missing in connection with Wickham." he stared her down, letting the words sink in. "Do you understand what I mean when I tell you this is not a man you want to be friends with?"

"Yes." She murmured, keeping eye contact. "I understand." It wasn't the first time she found out someone she had hung out with turned out to be a dangerous criminal, but for some reason this felt different; maybe it was the detective standing in her living room talking about two missing girls, but Lizzy couldn't help a shudder run through her at his serious mien.

"That's good." He nodded once, then paused. "Now this other friend of yours, Ray-"

"Ok, Ray may not be the smartest guy in the world but he is like a brother to me. So yeah, I tipped him off because that's what friends do. I don't know where he is now, and I probably wouldn't tell you if I did." She told him. Maybe she was being too honest, too confrontational, but he had thrown her off coming in her talking about Wickham.

"I understand all of that Miss Bennet. For the record, I am only interested in Mr. Reynolds in connection with Wickham. I need to pin down some details. I would appreciate it," here he paused, taking out a card from his pocket, "If you could pass the message along to your friend. "

She set her empty mug down and exchanged it for his card, looking it over. "I can do that." She stood, following him to the door. "But I wouldn't get your hopes up."

"If you happen to come in contact with him for any reason…" Darcy started and she plucked another card from his hand.

"I'll call." She winked at him and he gave a little laugh, shaking his head. "Goodnight detective."

"Goodnight, Miss Bennet. Stay safe." He said, heading off towards the stairs. She listened as he made his way down to the bottom floor, and then watched from her window as he entered his car and drove off. Only then did she pick up the phone and dial a number.

"Yo." Ray answered after the third ring, sounding mercifully sober despite a lot of background noise that made it sound like he was at a party.

"Ray. That cop came by my place looking for you." She told him, jumping right to the point. He cursed, then sounded like he was walking somewhere. All of a sudden the background noises she had been hearing were cut silent.

"What did he want?" he asked. Lizzy gave him a summary, explaining everything about Wickham. Ray cursed again.

"He can't know you talked to some cop about him." Ray warned. Lizzy frowned at his wording.

"I didn't talk to some cop about him." She corrected. "I told you everything he said. He wants to talk to _you_ about Wickham anyway. I don't know anything to tell even if I wanted to."

"I'm not talking to the cops." Ray said sternly. Lizzy rolled her eyes, though he couldn't see her. "I'll tell Wickham some cop is hassling you looking for me, but neither of us is saying anything about Wickham being the real target, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah." Lizzy sighed.

"Get rid of those cards." Ray warned, and then he was gone.

Lizzy took them back out of her pocket, tearing up one of the cards the detective had given her to give to Ray and then throwing it away, but looked thoughtfully down at the other one. She had done what Ray asked with his card, but the detective had given this one to her, and for some reason she was reluctant to destroy it. Lizzy laughed at herself; it was probably because he was so hot. Did she really have a school girl crush on this guy? Shrugging, she hid the card in a book on her bookshelf before heading into her room to finally get into her comfy pajamas.


	2. Chapter 2

**Recap of Previous Chapter**: Lizzy meets Darcy the cop in Charlotte's diner; she and Ray get away before he can question them. Lizzy spends the rest of the day in school and finishing up her last day temping at the doctor's office. Upon arriving home, she is met by Darcy, who somehow managed to track her down. She finds out he's really a detective, he questions her on Ray's whereabouts, warns her about Wickham, and leaves. Chapter one ends with her telling Ray about the meeting.

_"Get rid of those cards." Ray warned, and then he was gone._

_Lizzy took them back out of her pocket, tearing up one of the cards the detective had given her to give to Ray and then throwing it away, but looked thoughtfully down at the other one. She had done what Ray asked with his card, but the detective had given this one to her, and for some reason she was reluctant to destroy it. Lizzy laughed at herself; it was probably because he was so hot. Did she really have a school girl crush on this guy? Shrugging, she hid the card in a book on her bookshelf before heading into her room to _finally_ get into her comfy pajamas._

* * *

The next morning, Lizzy was up early. She had her first class at eight, but had to be at the bus stop by seven if she wanted to make it on time. Charlotte was up as well; she opened the diner at seven, but liked to get there early to have time to prepare. Lizzy could tell Charlotte was tense and preoccupied that morning but could only guess at the cause. She had fired her previous cook for selling drugs in her place and has since been struggling for weeks using temporary cooks on loan to her from a restaurant nearby that she was friendly with. A lot of them were happy to get the extra money that she paid them under the table for the hours, but Lizzy knew Charlotte was eager to hire someone permanent so she wasn't constantly on edge that someone would even show up that day. At first Lizzy assumed no one had called to confirm they would be there and that was what had Charlotte stressed, but that morning she told Lizzy that she finally had a new cook starting. Lizzy was confused as to why her friend seemed uneasy about the seemingly good news until Charlotte told her that her brother JJ was the one to recommend him.

Things between Charlotte and her twin were generally easygoing, as it had been their whole life- at least as long as Lizzy had known them. Things only ever got tense between them when JJ's gang activities came between them. Charlotte had grown up with an uncle who was the head of the local gang; she was no stranger to the lifestyle. When her brother became her cousin's right hand man, Charlotte, like Lizzy, was disappointed but accepting. However, when Charlotte became serious about taking over the diner she was currently in charge of, she confronted her brother about her desire to keep any gang association with her diner to a minimum. She did not, she told him, want her diner to be known as a house for the Families. JJ was affronted with her attitude, especially as he was helping finance her purchase. He accused her of becoming too full of herself, putting too much stock in owning a business, and most of all being ashamed of her gangster brother paying the bills for her dream.

This resulted into the biggest and pretty much only fight Charlotte and JJ got into. It lasted months and made things especially tough for Lizzy, who was oftentimes thrown in the middle and asked to choose sides. She only ever said they both misunderstood the other and that they needed some time alone without their egos to talk it out. Through careful planning by Lizzy and a dose of good luck, this eventually happened and any hard feelings were put aside. The effect of the fight was that JJ and his friends stopped in from time to time, but JJ made it known that if a gang member were to visit, he should eat and move on. Lizzy knew that JJ was aware of how much his sister loved her diner, and how much it meant for her that it not be on the radar as a hangout for the Families. If he recommended someone for the job, Lizzy was confident the new cook would know the way things worked.

Still, Charlotte seemed worried; Lizzy came out to her wiping down the already spotless stove, a clear sign that she was stressed out.

"If this guy doesn't work out, you can always keep looking for someone else." Elizabeth commented without preamble. Charlotte made a face while giving a sort of shrug.

"I'm sure it'll be fine." She replied somberly, scrubbing hard at nothing. Lizzy smirked, but dropped the subject. She told Charlotte what had happened with Ray and the detective after leaving the diner yesterday morning, to Charlotte's mix of disapproval and amusement.

"Maybe if you get closer to Wickham, the Detective will come looking for you instead of that idiot friend of yours." She said with a knowing smile, referring to Ray.

"God. I don't know if the punishment of being close to Wickham would be worth the reward of Detective Adonis paying me any attention." Lizzy replied with a laugh.

"I dunno. From the way you were drooling over him yesterday, it seemed to me you would be willing to do a lot of things to get that man's attention." Charlotte teased.

"Shut up, I was not that bad." Lizzy defended, blushing. Charlotte raised an eyebrow. "Anyway. I better head off to school. Good luck with the new cook. I'll stop by after class to see how things are going."

"Alright, I'll see you later." Charlotte said with a wave, turning back to scrubbing the stove. Lizzy shook her head, grabbed her backpack and headed out the door.

School was pretty normal that day. It was the first lab day for her geology class and she was paired up with a young girl fresh out of high school. Emily was quiet and withdrawn and Lizzy felt like she was pulling teeth to get her involved in completing the lab they were both supposed to be working on. In the end she simply went through the exercises herself while Emily watched on and recorded the information in her lab manual. As soon as class was over Emily was out the door. Lizzy debated approaching the teacher about her subpar partner, but decided to give the girl another chance.

Lizzy's next class that day was an intro computers course. The work was tedious and repetitive, but she got to work alone and for that she was grateful. She finished early, as she usually did in this class, and spent the remainder of her time Googling detective Darcy. Not much information came up, besides a picture of him looking young and clad in police uniform, paired with an article about a big drug bust he apparently had a big hand in a few years back.

After class was over she partly walked and partly rode the bus to Charlotte's diner. She ate lunch with her, asking her friend how the new cook was working out. Charlotte kind of sneered and rolled her eyes. "He's alright. Got a big attitude on him, but so far his cooking is okay. I don't know if I can stand working with such an arrogant show off, but…" she trialed off with a shrug, knowing Lizzy was fully aware of how badly Charlotte needed a long-term cook.

Like most diners, there was an open window behind the counter to the kitchen. Lizzy leaned over slightly to get a look at the new cook, who was busy concentrating on whatever he was grilling. He was an average height, a bit on the bulky side with not too many muscles; his bare arms showing off a few tattoos she couldn't make out from this vantage point. She guessed one was the sign of the Families; even Charlotte had that tattoo. She and her brother had gotten them together in their youth. Lizzy was almost tempted to get it as well, but tattooing herself with the sign would permanently tie her to the gang; besides having many friends in the Families, she was not dedicated to them. Rather than seeing it as allegiance, members of the gang would see her as not taking them seriously, or making a joke out of their loyalty and commitment.

"Well, maybe you'll get used to it. You can always threaten to dock his pay for giving the boss attitude." Lizzy shrugged, sitting back in her chair.

"So far the only thing that shuts him up is straight up leaving the kitchen." Charlotte replied in a huff. "Anyway. After you left this morning, the university called. They said they wanted to talk to you about scholarship opportunities."

"Yeah, they called last week, too." Lizzy commented without enthusiasm.

"Girl when are you going to take one of the many opportunities these schools been trying to give you?" Charlotte asked, suddenly exasperated.

"What the hell?" Lizzy asked, surprised at the outburst.

"If I had half your brain I would have gotten myself out of this neighborhood years ago." Charlotte told her. "You're always blowing your teachers out of the water," she said, ticking her statements off on her fingers, "Every school you apply to wants to pay your way through, any place you temp for wants to keep you on full time, when are you going to make a move?"

"I don't even know what I want to do." Lizzy defended herself. "These schools want you to have a clear idea of a major before they'll commitment to shelling out free cash. You knew you wanted to own this place and you did it. I'm sorry I don't have a dream like you."

"You are just stagnant and you need to move on. You can't live in this place forever; you are too smart and too talented." Charlotte replied, standing up and clearing their plates away.

"If I'm so smart and so talented than why am I still here?" Lizzy mumbled back darkly, perturbed at Charlotte's criticism of how she was handling her life. .

"Because this place is your security blanket. Your dad did a lot for this neighborhood and the kids in it, but you are not doing him any favors by wasting your life away in it. You need to grow up and live the life you were meant for." Charlotte replied.

"Thanks for the pep talk, but I am old enough to take care of myself." Lizzy told her, scowling.

"Apparently not. Are you going to call that school back?" Charlotte challenged her.

"I am going to do whatever I want to do, because I am in charge of my life, not my roommate." Lizzy growled back, standing up to leave.

"Well don't blame me when you're forty and still working temp jobs, wondering where your life went." Charlotte waved her off. Lizzy huffed and not being able to get in the last word, then stormed out.

Despite her anger, her heart ached at the mention of her father. Thomas Bennet was a bright student. His parents were wealthy, but by the time he reached college age, they had both passed on. His older brother took over the family finances and cut him off completely. Elizabeth had never known the conflict that drove the uncle she never met to this, and Thomas became tight lipped whenever the subject of his brother was raised. Either way, as far as she could tell, her father did not let the lack of wealth affect his plans. He took out loans to pay for the tuition which scholarships and grants didn't cover, and when he finished school he decided to take a position in a low class neighborhood that was desperate for new teachers. He was at an age where he was determined to make a difference in the world, and thanks to the teachers loan forgiveness program, which eventually paid back all of his student loans, he was able to put a lot of his money back into the community he served.

Unfortunately, this did not sit well with his wife. Francis Bennet had fallen in love and married the smart, wealthy man who she believed was taking her to the top of the social class. They had been married five years when he got promoted to principal of the middle school and she realized noting would get him out of that neighborhood. It was just after Lizzy's second birthday that Francis Bennet packed up the car and his two girls to return to her mother's house. Lizzy and her sister Jane stayed with her mother's family during the divorce proceedings in which Thomas fought hard for full custody, but eventually lost. He visited his girls every other weekend, but missed them terribly on a day-to-day basis.

When Lizzy turned five, Francis was going to be remarried. She approached Thomas about taking full custody of his wayward daughter on a temporary basis. Where Jane was an angel in every way, Lizzy was a constant source of suffering. She fought her mother on every issue, didn't listen to her mother's fiancé at all, and only seemed to be able to behave herself when her father was in charge. When the therapist her mother had taken her to had suggested Thomas take a bigger role in his daughter's life, Francis agreed on the belief that switching schools and living in Thomas's tiny apartment would be so miserable that Lizzy would beg to return home. So it was that after the wedding of Francis and Henry Young, Lizzy officially moved in with her father, switching to seeing her mother every other weekend. They staggered the weekends so that Jane and Lizzy were able to spend them each together, one weekend at their mothers and the next at their fathers. Lizzy never did beg her mother to return home; as far as she was concerned her father understood her better than anyone, save Jane. Eventually Francis and Henry had two more daughters, Lizzy and Jane's half-sisters, Lydia and Catherine, and talk of Lizzy returning home fizzled out.

Lizzy grew up in a tough neighborhood, and things might have been a lot worse for her but for her father's influence in the community and the friends she was able to make because of it. Apart from his efforts in school, Thomas took charge of a local community center that was formally a hangout for gang members. It wasn't easy, but slowly and determinedly, he created a safe haven for kids to go to after school as an alternative to being on the streets. There were those who resented him for his efforts in keeping the kids off the streets, but they mostly went unheard. He stood strong through all the allegations; that he was some guilty former-rich white guy who looked down on the poor black neighborhood, that there was something wrong with him because he liked hanging around little kids all day, that he must have some kind of secret agenda to wanting to set up the community center. Throughout the years, this kind of talk slowly dwindled down, especially when, thanks to his efforts, many of the kids he mentored made it off the streets and into college, with many more now working decent jobs thanks to him. Even those that turned to the gang life remembered his kindness and support, and it wasn't long until he had protection, or at the very least indifference, from the gangs rather than conflict.

Within the community center he created a kind of club, choosing specific kids and making sure they became friends. Lizzy could never quite tell what her father saw in these network groups; the only thing she could guess was that they had a kind of gang to belong to that was safer than going out to join an actual gang. Lizzy and her friends fought for and protected one another, as well as helped each other in school. Lizzy especially often helped her father by tutoring the other kids.

She met Charlotte at the youth center when they were five and seven, respectively. It was the week she moved into her father's house and the center had only been opened for a short time; people were still wary of bringing their kids to a place that was very recently somewhere you went to score drugs. Charlotte's uncle was the leader of The Temple Families, a local street gang named so in combination of the fact that all the top level guys were related in some way, and because the large abandoned synagogue was their base of operations. Charlotte and her twin brother Jeremiah were some of the first people to come check out what Thomas and his volunteers had done to the youth center. Charlotte had walked right up to Lizzy, asked her her name, her favorite color, how she managed to have curly hair, and the rest was history. JJ was slower to warm up, but eventually the three were good friends.

She met Ray a few years later. Out of all the kids she hung out, it was Ray who she often got into trouble with. With all he had going on and all the kids who vied for his attention, her father was perhaps a bit lax at times with who she went off with and what she was doing. She started off tutoring Ray in most of his subjects; he was strong and fast but never did well academically. That turned into cruising the neighborhood together, which inevitably turned into some kind of minor illegal activity; trespassing, mostly. Ray had a gift for getting into places he wasn't supposed to go and for all her efforts in helping him pass his tests, he passed what knowledge he had onto her. So the detective was right, she didn't have a record; but that only meant they had never been caught. Ray was on his way out of the neighborhood on a track scholarship thanks in a large part due to her father, but one night close to graduation he pissed off the wrong people and they broke his leg. He had no lasting injury, but his chances at the scholarship were shot. He seemed to take it in stride, but Lizzy knew he often thought about how different things might have been for him.

So Lizzy lived a life of relative peace thanks to her friendships and her father's legacy. Despite oftentimes hanging around dangerous criminals, Lizzy kept her record clean. At party's she would drink and smoke some pot, but that was the extent of her drug use and she never had any inclination to change that fact. After her father's death a few years ago, Lizzy became stagnant in school, not quite knowing what to do with her life. She thought about Charlotte's accusation, that she was simply too scared to leave the life she's known, or possibly too guilty that she was not living up to her father's image.

Thankfully, she didn't have long to dwell; Halfway down the road, she ran into Ray. They talked briefly about the detective looking for him, Ray reminded her once again not to say anything to Wickham about it, and then they dropped the subject.

"I'm heading over to Wickham's now actually. He's got a party going on. You're welcome to come with." Ray straddled his bike as he said this. Lizzy hesitated, remembering the detectives warning. "Come on, you could use a break."

"Yeah, alright." Lizzy said with a mental shrug. She slid in behind him and they took off downtown. She was probably making a mistake, as she was want to do, but today she didn't care. Her fight with Charlotte had her preoccupied and stressed out, and the thought of letting loose a little was very appealing. She knew contact with Wickham was dangerous even without detective Adonis's warning, but she also knew that, in a house full of people wanting to impress Wickham, she would be practically invisible.

Ray suddenly pulled down a side road. "What are you doing?" she asked, already guessing the answer.

"We can't show up empty handed. He can't stand leeches." Ray said, pulling off to the side of the road. She recognized the club as one of Wickham's favorite hang outs, as well as a known street pharmacy. It was an easy place to score anything illegal and, although he never said so outright, she was sure this was the place Ray 'did some work' for Wickham.

"Ray." Lizzy sighed. She hated this club. It was almost guaranteed that everyone inside was high on something, and fights constantly broke out, people got shot and the police raided it seemingly weekly.

"Look you can wait out here; I'll be back in five." Ray replied, sliding off the bike and giving her a pat on the shoulder. As much as he liked to look out for her, he also had his moments when he felt she was being paranoid. Lately he only felt this way when she showed reluctance to being around Wickham, who more and more was becoming Ray's sole employer.

"Your five minutes are more like twenty." Lizzy complained, tugging her coat tightly around her and pouting a little to gain pity.

"You want to come in?" Ray turned back, eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face. He wasn't buying it.

"Forget it. Hurry up its freezing out here." Lizzy slid up on the bike so she could reach the handlebars. "You need to invest in an actual car one of these days."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't we all" He waved her off, striding purposefully to the door.

Ten minutes later, Lizzy was off the bike and pacing the street in an effort to stay warm when a large black SUV pulled up alongside her. "Baby girl." A voice from inside said. She instantly recognized it as Jeremiah Jr., Charlotte's twin brother. He had come to her father's youth center as often as Charlotte and they had grown close, playing after school together almost every day. She even tutored him in math for a few years, though he was two grades ahead of her, back when it looked like he was interested in getting out of this neighborhood and on to college. He had been her protector, a big mean boy with connections that had given her her first kiss, and whom she had once thought she was in love with, although she never told anyone that little fact.

His uncle ran The Temple Families, and when his uncle had been shot and his cousin took over, Jeremiah had been asked, begged, and coerced into being his cousin's new right hand man. All thoughts of a different and better life out of the streets were gone. Lizzy was disappointed, as she knew he had been, but they had both lived in this neighborhood long enough to learn that was the way things went sometimes.

"Hey JJ." She smiled at him, stepping up to the car to get a good look at him. It had been awhile, maybe two months or so, since she had last seen him. He was big and muscular, with a mean looking face that spoke of trouble. "You look good."

"What are you doing out here girl?" he asked with a frown. The driver she didn't recognize, but he didn't even spare her a glance; he was busy casing the street.

"Waiting for Ray." She tilted her head towards the red door of the club Ray had gone into.

"That punk." JJ tsked. "You better stay out of trouble. If I hear Ray's getting you mixed up in anything I will personally beat the shit out of him, and then you."

"I love you too, JJ." She grinned impulsively at him and was pleased to see him look away in embarrassment. "You know I'm too smart for that. He's picking up something for Wickham's party tonight."

"Damn girl, where is your brain?" JJ asked in surprised annoyance, head snapping back to look her in the eye. "Those pigs are all over Wickham. That wanna-be dealer is going down."

"I know." Lizzy shrugged. "But not tonight"

He shook his head. "You always did dance too close to danger, baby girl. Do not jump that line." JJ's eyes bore into hers and she couldn't help thinking that this was the second warning in a short time to stay away from Wickham.

"I won't." She promised.

"Alright. You seen Renko?" JJ asked, changing the subject. She had in fact. She was hanging out with a friend who rode with the Uptown Riders, a small motorcycle gang not quite as large or well known as the Families. Renko was a squirrelly drug dealer who, rumor had it, had disappeared with two grand's worth of heroin. Everyone was talking about it because of JJ's partiality in very public displays of retribution and bets were being placed on how long Renko could stay hidden and exactly what JJ would do once he was found. Lizzy was on the back of Chavez's bike when she overheard some of the riders talking about seeing Renko recently. As much as she loved to stay out of whatever beef they had with each other, she knew loyalty to JJ meant telling what she knew. So she told him where she heard he was held up and told him to be careful. His return grin was menacing and confident, and then he was gone. She looked after his retreating car, a wave of nostalgia washing over her as she vividly remembered afternoons hunched over math problems, him laughing as she tried to explain algebra using guns and drugs in the equations.

"That's some racist shit right there." He would laugh at her, a real laugh that reflected his relaxation in her company. He had kissed her during one of these study lessons, when she had bemoaned ever finding a boy who would take her to some school dance. He had kissed her and smiled and told her no one would ask her because they were afraid of him, and he would just have to take her.

His uncle had died shortly after, and they never did go to a dance together, but he was always there for her when she needed him. He gave her the most valuable thing he could give her- the protection of his gang without any commitment to the life of being in a gang. So she could walk the streets in relative safety, and she could go places she wasn't supposed to go, hang out with dangerous criminals, all because her father had cared about these people when they were kids. For as much as people talked about criminals being all about themselves, with no loyalty's to anyone else, she had always observed the exact opposite.

She grew up with these kids, but it had been her dad who paved the way for her. They looked at her and remembered him, and to a kid whose parents were either dead, gone, or working all the time, the kindness from an adult who wanted nothing more than for them to have a place to feel safe must have meant something. She still got letters from the ones who got out, thanks to her dad, speaking of the debt they could never repay him, and she got the protection and friendships from the ones who didn't make it, all because her father had built them a home where they could escape the harshness of their lives for a few hours after school.

"You sure do have some interesting friends." A voice said from behind. She whirled, her hand on her heart.

"Jesus Christ." Lizzy was so far gone in memories of the old days, of her dad, that she didn't even hear his approach. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Did you just buy drugs from that man?" Detective Darcy was looking down at her in disapproval.

"What? No." Lizzy shook her head. "I don't do drugs. I was just saying hey."

"You know the leader of the Families?" Darcy asked, right eyebrow raised. It drew her attention to his scar.

"He's not the leader. Anyway, I know a lot of people." Lizzy squared her shoulders, her hands in her pocket. "None of whom would be too happy to see me talking to a cop, so if you don't mind…"

"I'm not a cop." He put his hand out in a shushing manor looking around. "Not tonight." It was true he didn't look like a cop. His face was shadowed like he hadn't shaved in a week, and his clothes were plain jeans and that same leather jacket over a grey shirt, but looked even more rumpled than last time they had met. "Are you waiting for Ray?"

"Yes." She groaned. "Are you going to arrest him? Because he's my ride. And it's really cold out here"

"No." Darcy looked at her in that unnerving way. "Are you going to Wickham's party?"

"Uh, yeah, how'd you hear about it?" Lizzy questioned. "And don't say how dangerous it is to be around him because it's just one night and there's going to be so many people there that-"

"That's not what I was going to say." Darcy shook his head. "I need you to vouch for me."

"What?" Lizzy asked, shocked. "_You_ want to go to Wickham's party?"

"Yes. I just need to get close to him, see his set up, that kind of thing." Darcy explained. "That's why I've been trying to meet with Ray, but he hasn't gotten in contact. I heard about the party tonight and couldn't pass the opportunity up."

"Um, no?" Lizzy shook her head. "No way. Not in a million years."

"Why not?" Darcy asked, his head tilted and a puzzled look on his face.

"Why not?" she laughed, and then turned at someone coming out of the club Ray was in. It wasn't Ray, but it reminded Lizzy that she was standing out in the open talking to a cop, who was apparently thinking about going undercover at Wickham's. She pulled Darcy into the alleyway so they were out of sight. "It gets out that I'm helping the cops, and my reputation is gone."

"But, you have no criminal activities, you are going to school to work your way out of this neighborhood, what is so important about you reputation?" Darcy questioned.

"Have you been here more than five minutes?" she asked gesturing to the street where right at that moment two men were getting into a fistfight across the street. "I have friends in this neighborhood. JJ back there? The guy you called the leader of the Families? He's a friend. A good friend. Do you know what that means?"

"Protection." Darcy guessed, a light of understanding finally entering his eyes. "Okay, but from what? You keep your head down, you don't deal drugs or participate in illegal actives, why would you need protection?"

"Everyone needs protection, Detective." Lizzy looked up at him like he was a different kind of species. "That's why every kid in this neighborhood joins gangs. Protection. And if you're a girl, you date someone in a gang. I have to do neither, because I have friends in the Families and the Uptown Riders. I even know Wickham, although he's only been here awhile and is apparently about to get sent up state."

"I understand. You can't vouch for me." Darcy nodded, squinting up the street then back to her with his hands on his hips. "But if I was to show up, and we saw each other..."

Lizzy hesitated. Would anyone be able to find out that she knew he was a cop and said nothing? Ray would know, or guess. Possibly even Wickham if Ray had told him about Darcy and Lizzy's meeting. She could always say it was a different cop; she knew Ray didn't even see Darcy yesterday. In the end, she would be helping Wickham by outing Darcy as a cop, and that thought alone made her skin crawl. "I won't blow your cover." He surprised her by putting his hands on her shoulders, gripping slightly.

"Thank you." He said sincerely. She felt her heartbeat rise.

"Alright, alright." She murmured, embarrassed by her reaction. "Don't get all mushy on me." Something came to mind. "What are you doing here anyway?" She squinted at him. "This meeting wasn't just happenstance, was it?"

"Not in so many words." Darcy replied. "I heard about Wickham's open invitation party tonight, and assumed that Ray would definitely be there, and that you may even attend as well. This is Ray's most well-known hang out," he paused to nod towards the club Lizzy had refused to go into. "From his silence I assumed Ray would not be open to talking about becoming a confidential informant on Wickham's case, but that you may be with him and may be open to it." She stared at him in amazement. "At the very least, I needed to make sure if we were to come into contact that you wouldn't expose me as a police officer in a house full of criminals."

"Damn." She finally commented. "I guess they didn't give you that detective badge for your good looks." She winced, wondering what had possessed her to say something so awkward.

"Liz?!" Ray was calling her, apparently done with his business. Thank god for Ray's good timing,

"Good luck, detective." Lizzy mumbled, hurriedly coming out from the alleyway and waving at Ray. "Five minutes my ass."

* * *

Author's notes: If there are any questions or anything that seems unclear or confusing, please let me know.


	3. Chapter 3

**Recap of Previous Chapter**: Lizzy and Charlotte start the morning by discussing Charlotte's new cook, recommended by Charlotte's gangster twin brother, JJ. Lizzy goes to school, where she has a geology lab with a subpar lab partner and a computer class in which she tries to search for more information about the detective. After school she meets up with Charlotte at the diner and they discuss the arrogant, but so far talented, cook. Charlotte gets on Lizzy about an opportunity at a local University and Lizzy takes offense at Charlotte's meddling. On her walk home, she reminisces about her father, what he accomplished in the neighborhood, and how she owes many of her friendships to him. She runs into Ray, who tells her about Wickham's party. On the way there, Ray stops by a local club to pick up some drugs for the party, and while waiting outside Lizzy runs into JJ, and then Darcy. Darcy tells her he will be undercover at the party, asks her to vouch for him. She refuses, but they compromise on her not blowing his cover.

"_At the very least, I needed to make sure if we were to come into contact that you wouldn't expose me as a police officer in a house full of criminals."_

"_Damn." She finally commented. "I guess they didn't give you that detective badge for your good looks." She winced, wondering what had possessed her to say something so awkward._

"_Liz?!" Ray was calling her, apparently done with his business. Thank god for Ray's good timing,_

"_Good luck, detective." Lizzy mumbled, hurriedly coming out from the alleyway and waving at Ray. "Five minutes my ass."_

* * *

"Hey _chica_." Sherrie walked up to Lizzy later that night just as Lizzy was refilling her drink.

Sherrie was Cuban, but was often mistaken for being white because her skin was so light. Lizzy herself was darker than Sherrie and, coincidentally, with her tan skin and black curly hair, she was often mistaken for being some kind of Spanish or Latin decent. After witnessing how bothered Sherrie became whenever someone directed their Spanish to Lizzy, she theorized that Sherrie often took any opportunity to speak in Spanish, or Spanglish, in order to remind everyone of the fact that she was Cuban. Lizzy didn't see what the big deal was, Sherrie herself had made the mistake when they first met and she had greeted her in Spanish.

Her father told her it was an the Italian influence in their blood when Lizzy pointed out how much she differed from her sister Jane, who was the classic American beauty with her light skin, blonde hair and blue eyes. Their mother looked more or less like an older version of Jane, though her hair was more sandy and she was a bit shorter. Incidentally, Lizzy knew almost no Spanish besides a few words and phrases she had picked up from the Uptown Riders and Sherrie herself, most of which she would not repeat.

"Hey. I didn't see you come in." Lizzy greeted the girl. She had a thing going with Ray, so they had been in each other's company a lot more lately. She wasn't so bad, but they didn't really have much in common. Sherrie's goal in life was to be with a guy who had the means and inclination to take her clubbing every night, or, failing that, some kind of party where she knew enough people to swap gossip with. Consequently, her favorite talking points consisted of the latest neighborhood gossip and which club was the hottest at the moment. To give her credit, she asked Lizzy about her classes whenever they met, but seemed to lose interest if Lizzy went into too much detail.

Despite her temper and loud opinions, Sherrie was generally pretty easy to hang out with. They would probably never be best friends, but she didn't have to make an effort with Sherrie to keep her happy. Telling her how cute she looked in that outfit and giving the right kind of responses to whatever the latest news was was sufficient enough conversation for Sherrie, and no effort had to be made to think of inane topics to discuss.

At this point Lizzy had drunk enough to feel relaxed and forget the troubles of her day. Since starting college, she rarely went out on school nights; even on the weekends it was uncommon for her to party during the semester. She heard too many stories of friends who found it easy to slip into academic probation from one too many nights out partying with friends, so made an effort to focus her attention and not get behind.

Sherrie had stumbled into Lizzy when she turned to lean against the counter, and Lizzy felt a splash of whatever she was drinking fall on her arm. She wiped her arm on her jeans just as Sherrie was passing her a joint. Praying it wasn't laced with anything, Lizzy took a long drag, then handed it back. She never had anything besides weed, but at a party like this there was a good chance the pot was laced with something stronger. She would never crash at Wickham's, and Ray was already taking Sherrie on his bike when he left. It wasn't that far of a trip home and she had made it safely before, but she wanted to be aware enough by the time she had to walk to the bus stop.

"Wow, that guy is _bien bueno_." Sherrie commented.

"Who?" Lizzy wondered, only half interested. Despite being Rays girlfriends, Sherrie thought every other guy was '_bien bueno_'.

"I don't know him. Wickham's new puppy." Sherrie answered Lizzy's inquiry. She was leaning against the counter staring at someone behind Lizzy; she took a drag then passed the joint back

It was a joke they kept between themselves. All these young guys hanging on Wickham's every word, jumping at the chance to talk to him - they reminded Sherrie and Lizzy of dogs nipping at his heels. Lizzy turned to see this new guy only to discover it was actually Darcy; he was lounging in a leather recliner by the couch where Wickham was telling them all a story, half listening to Wickham and half concentrating on his beer. She sputtered at his appearance, hurriedly passing the joint back to Sherrie. Though she had been keeping an eye out for him, this was the first time seeing him since they met downtown earlier; he must have slipped in when she wasn't paying attention.

He looked good, about as far from a cop in appearance as he could get. He seemed a bit stiff, but his eyes were bloodshot and there were a few empty beers around him. Like most new guys that showed up without someone to introduce him, there was a certain level of aversion to his presence, although someone did pass him a joint. Lizzy was shocked to see him taking a drag before awkwardly passing it off, but she relaxed slightly at the sight. Of course he was there to blend in and wasn't about to bust them all for something so minor as smoking pot.

"Damn." She said, turning to mimic Sherrie's stance as she tentatively took the joint back from her. He had changed his shirt and pants, but kept the jacket. His new shirt had several holes in it and his jeans seemed to be stained with oil. She had seen the same stains on someone who worked on cars all day and guessed he was going for a mechanic look. Wickham had a chop shop downtown, but Lizzy doubted he would hire some outsider no one knew just because he showed up at his party. Darcy may have figured the same thing, because at the moment he looked put out that Wickham wasn't giving him the time of day.

It was like the rougher he looked, the hotter he was. She wasn't going to analyze the reason behind that with a ten foot point.

"Hey, didya hear about Sammy?" Sherrie suddenly changed the subject, pulling her attention from the undercover detective.

"Sammy?" Lizzy questioned, interested but still keeping one eye on the detective. "Little kid that always walks with a limp?"

"Uh huh that's him." Sherrie nodded in an exaggerated manner, blinking slowly. "Except he aint so little anymore" she added with a giggle. Lizzy wondered how much she'd had to drink and if this story was going to make sense. She would generally let Sherrie babble, except she knew Sammy. He was a kid from the youth center, a few years younger than her who she tutored in higher level math. He was something of a genius, although the last she heard he was doing jobs for Wickham and college had become a distant dream.

"What about him?" Lizzy prompted.

"Oh!" Sherrie grabbed her arm in excitement. "I forgot what we were talkin' about." She laughed. "Okay, so Sammy was working for Wickham, only he tells Wickham he doesn't know how to do his math good, or something like that and you know how Wickham took that."

Lizzy winced, feeling sorry for the kid; Wickham wanted to be the top dog, the smartest and the toughest. Any challenge to either his brains or his power was met with swift and often cruel retribution. Unfortunately, Sherrie wasn't done with her story. She lowered her voice for this next part- it seemed even as drunk and high as she was that she knew being overheard by Wickham would be dangerous. "Only Wickham goes and sends him off to sell past 12th street, and he got jumped by someone in the Families and lost all Wickham's product, plus some cash, then goes and _blames_ the poor kid for it."

"What?" Lizzy asked, irritated. "What was he supposed to do against the Families in their own territory? They never travel alone, which is why they never get jumped. Wickham should take a lesson from them and stop sending his guys off as targets all the time."

Sherrie looked around before nodding enthusiastically, forgetting herself by raising her voice a little, "If it were my Ray getting jumped by those inbred _comemierdas_ I would tell Wickham to get some guys together and beat the _mierda_ out of them."

Lizzy shrugged, sipping her beer to mask her silence on the matter. She felt it was impolitic to voice her own opinion when she had more friends in the Families and Sherrie had more friends in the Riders and Wickham's crew. "What happened to Sammy?"

"He's out until he can come up with some replacement cash, or product. Wickham had him working for free for a while, but the hoops he had that kid running through," Sherrie paused to shake her head. "He finally wised up and realized Wickham would rather see him dead than have him back to sell."

"Damn." Lizzy commented. She glanced at Wickham grinning stupidly at the mass of men and women around him hanging on his every word. She was suddenly glad that Darcy was there to take him down. A crew was supposed to look out for one another and Wickham was supposed to ensure their safety, not play games with their lives. Living life as a drug dealer was dangerous enough without your boss setting you up to get jumped so he had an excuse to punish you for taking a stab at his ego.

She glanced back at Darcy, wondering how long it would take him to get an introduction to Wickham. It was almost impossible without someone on the inside, and even then Wickham had more guys than he had product. His chopshop just south of 12th was doing pretty well, but that was even harder to get into because the money was better.

"Keep it in your pants, Liz. It's not like you'd ever make a move." Sherrie smirked at her, breaking Lizzy out of her trance-like stare at Darcy. She had to stop doing that. Sherrie couldn't make a move even if she wanted to. A boyfriend was never much of a deterrent for a little on-the-side flirting, but because she was currently dating Ray, as a girlfriend of someone in his gang, she had to follow Wickham's example and abide by the no contact rule as well. Lizzy was not so restrained. Suddenly, an idea formed in her inebriated mind.

"Fifty bucks." Lizzy challenged. It was times like these, when both Sherrie and she had had a few drinks, that their tentative friendship easily became strained. Sherrie had a tendency to push Lizzy's buttons; she was fond of letting Lizzy know exactly what she thought of a college kid hanging around a bunch of drug dealers and petty thieves. Lizzy liked to think of her as simply jealous, but that still didn't stop her from getting tired of Sherrie talking to her like she didn't live in this neighborhood, like she was some danger addict who comes down to the slums looking for a thrill.

"Fifty bucks for what?" Sherrie asked confused.

"I bet you fifty bucks I'll go up to that guy and…" Lizzy paused. She promised not to blow his cover, but paying him any attention carried a certain level of danger attached to it. While she thought, Sherrie laughed.

"You can't even think of anything to do with him." She guffawed. "Poor sweet innocent Lizzy. He is obviously too much for you to handle."

"I bet I get him to kiss me within… five minutes." Lizzy put a hand on her hip, turning towards Sherrie with a challenging look on her face.

"Please." She flicked her hair behind her shoulder in a dismissive manor, obviously not thinking twice about the challenge. "You're on." Sherrie scoffed.

"Let's see the cash." Lizzy held out her hand.

"Why? You going to pay him to kiss you?" Sherrie laughed, taking a swig of her beer.

"I'm not making the effort with some puppy if I'm not getting something out of it." Lizzy replied, crossing her arms.

"Oh like it's such a punishment I'm sure." Sherrie grinned, eyeing Darcy once more.

"Just make sure you have the cash," Lizzy ordered, putting her own drink down and stepping away from the counter.

"Come on. We both know I'll be the one fifty bucks richer, miss goodie-two-shoes." Sherrie replied with an eye roll.

Lizzy headed over to where Darcy was still lounging. She knew this was probably stupid and dangerous, but she was feeling buzzed, competitive, angry at Wickham, and a little bit like she wanted to dance on the line of stupid behavior tonight. What would he do? What would he say? What would _she_ say? For all her bravado, she wondered if she really had the nerve to do whatever the hell she was planning on doing.

"Hey there." She said, putting her right arm on the top of his chair and looking down at him. He looked up at her, his face a perfect mask of calm curiosity. There were at least five beers around that were his, and she had definitely seen him smoking pot; beyond that she had no idea how high he was right now, or what kind of high, if any. He was calm, but still carried a level of stiffness about him. She imagined that even if there weren't an unspoken rule to stay away from outsiders, his closed off attitude would deter most from approaching him. She herself would have eyed him from afar if it weren't for the fact that she knew he would be open to her presence.

"Hey." He replied, his voice low. She hesitated. Now what? Okay, think of him as if you've never met.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Will." He said after a hesitation.

"Will." She smiled, trying it out. "Nice to meet you." She held out her hand and he took it with a firm shake. His hands were warm and dry, and he didn't relinquish his grip.

"And you?" He asked, raising his right eyebrow in that almost familiar way; it always seemed to draw her attention to his scar.

"Elizabeth." She replied, then glanced back at Sherrie who not so subtly tapped her wrist when she saw Lizzy turn. "So…" she said, leaning in closer and talking so low that she was practically mouthing the words "You get a chance to look around yet?"

"Elizabeth." He growled a low warning, all pretense of friendliness dissolved. She grinned; this guy she knew. Somehow he was easier to be around when he was scowling. Maybe it was simply the fact that when he smiled she remembered how handsome he was, which in turn reminded her of how little he thought of her appearance that first day they met, when he totally rebuffed her. When he scowled, she felt challenged; like she wanted to push his buttons to see what he would do. Did that say something about her? Was she some kind of masochist? Luckily, she never felt this urge to risk life and limb to see how far she could poke an angry bear before. She took her hand back from his grip and sat on the arm of the chair, leaning close.

"Listen. You do me a favor, and I'll give you a great excuse to poke around Wickham's office." Lizzy offered, her voice just as low.

He looked up at her, thinking. She continued to stare into his serious eyes, but the longer he stayed silent, the more uncomfortable she became. She just started to lean back when he nodded subtly. "What's the favor?"

"Kiss me." She breathed out in a rush and he actually looked startled. She counted that as a win, despite the flush she felt rise to her cheeks.

"What?" he sputtered.

"Come on, you heard me. And like, in the next minute or it doesn't count. That way, we-" she was going to explain the rest of her plan; she felt pretty proud of it, actually, considering she came up with it off the top of her head. She would tell him how they could sneak off together on the pretense of finding a quiet corner of the house to be alone in, how she could show him where Wickham kept his drugs, and probably some more incriminating evidence – a hiding spot she knew of only because Ray had been so impressed he had let it slip one day, and lastly how he should probably just pick a fight with the toughest looking guys here, because that would be the only way without an introduction to get Wickham's attention. She didn't get a chance to say any of this, however, because he leaned up and kissed her, right in the middle of her sentence. His lips were the perfect combination of firm and soft and despite the empty beer bottles that surrounded him, he tasted like coffee. It was tame, as kisses go, but she still felt her heart beating a fast rhythm in her chest at the feeling of his lips on hers.

"Hey, hey, hey." A voice interrupted them and Darcy pulled back. Lizzy sat up and turned towards the voice to see Wickham smirking at them and any pleasure she was feeling quickly dissipated as she felt her stomach drop. "Our little sister kissing on some stranger, now I've seen everything." It was a nickname some guys around town had given her when she was younger, but Wickham had only moved here about three years ago and couldn't possible know why people called her that. She didn't like the possessive way he referred to her, but by the look in his eye he was doped up on more than just alcohol and one of the main rules she lived by was to not confront someone hopped up on drugs.

"You two know each other or something?" Wickham leaned forward, all the more dangerous by his interest. "If I'd have known this guy was a friend of yours, I would've been a little more welcoming." This was the moment she had feared would happened when she walked over here. She had promised not to blow his cover, but she also knew he was looking for a way into Wickham's inner circle, to get whatever evidence he would need to put Wickham away. That was fine with Lizzy; she had no love for this new dealer who was building up a crew in her neighborhood and was linked, according to the detective, to the disappearance of two women. It was partly Sherrie's story about Sammy that had driven her to Darcy in the first place. However, she had also survived in this rough neighborhood by knowing exactly how far to stick her neck out.

"I know everyone in this neighborhood, you know that." She smiled at Wickham. He laughed, and others around him followed suit a second behind him.

"So you do know him?" he pressed, reaching in his pocket to pull out a bag. He began to pull some weed out and roll up a joint.

"This guy?" She looked down at him, gauging his reaction. He was a cool as ever, looking up at her; she had the feeling this wasn't his first tough situation. She was in it now; she had gotten everyone's attention by coming over here and now all that was left was to think of something easy, knowing whatever she said would have to be backed up and proven. "He goes to my school. Told him to stop by, but I didn't think he'd actually come."

"What can I say?" Darcy shrugged, a small smile on his face as he sat up a little and took her hand, his touch light. It gave her goosebumps. "When a pretty girl tells you to come to a party, you come."

There were a few cat calls at this, and even Wickham laughed. "You've got a set on you, that's for sure. I was beginning to think Lizzy didn't even _like_ guys." He lit the joint and took a puff, bypassing the men between them to hand it to Will. "What did you say your name was?"

"Will. Will O'Mara" he said, leaning over to take the proffered joint. She had just seen it happen, so Lizzy tried not to look surprised as he took a long drag, holding it in for a while and then letting it out slowly. He passed it to her next. She assessed the situation she was in. She was practically sitting in the lap of a police detective who had just passed her an illegal drug. As much as she'd like to refuse, everyone's eyes were on her. She took her hit and passed the joint to the next closest guy.

"So you're a college elite like our Lizzy here, eh?" Wickham leaned back slightly but kept his eyes trained on Lizzy and Will. "You must be pretty smart."

"Not that smart." Lizzy laughed lightly, leaning more into Will. She tucked her legs closer and he reflectively brought an arm up and around her to steady her. "He cheated off me in Math." She finished, looking down at him with a teasing smile, hoping he took the hint. Her statement and his sheepish look caused another round of laughter. The story came easily to her – Wickham hated anyone that had the potential to be smarter than him, so she needed to make Darcy not look like any kind of threat, and hearing Sherries story about Sammy put the math class fresh in her mind.

"Eh I'm getting my certificate in automotives; I don't know why they make you take a math class anyway." Darcy huffed, feigning offense.

"Mechanic, huh?" Wickham eyed him. "Where you workin'?

"Nowhere right now. I mean, they all want you certified. It's complete bullshit, I have to pay money to make money." Darcy sold the story perfectly, with just the right inflictions to make it sound like an old wound that had been repeated frequently and with feeling.

"Eh, not everyone." Wickham shrugged. "Listen, come by my shop on 14th tomorrow. We'll see what you can do and maybe I'll have a job for you."

"Seriously?" Darcy asked, eyes wide. "That would be great, thanks man."

"Don't mention it. Thank Lizzy here." Wickham tipped the joint towards her in a kind of salute. "She's got good instincts about people, don't you little sister?"

Lizzy just smiled back, a knot in her stomach. As drunk and high as she was, she knew exactly the position she was in. If and when people found out Darcy was really a cop looking to get dirt on Wickham, maybe no one would remember that Lizzy knew him first, invited him in, but chances were that no matter how high Wickham was right now, he would never forget.

"Want a beer?" Lizzy looked down at Will. He nodded and she slid off the chair and into the kitchen area without another comment. "Pay up."

Sherrie crossed her arms with a pout. "No fair, you already knew him"

"I didn't know he'd come. And anyway, the bet was I'd get him to kiss me within five minutes. And he did." Lizzy replied. Sherrie hemmed and hawed, but eventually forked over the cash. Lizzy grabbed a few beer bottles and made her way back to where Darcy was. Now that the boss had given the okay, sort to speak, Darcy was being engaged by a few people. She passed him his beer, and he patted his knee with a grin. She sighed and rolled her eyes, but gingerly sat on his knee. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him, then started causally drinking beer and making light conversation with some people from the party.

She eventually relaxed enough to lean into him more, putting and arm around his neck and drinking her beer. At some point Wickham had turned on the TV and some random show was playing. She was kind of out of it with the pot and alcohol in her system, and was basically zoning out. All of her relaxation was gone in an instant when Wickham's voice once more penetrated her buzz.

"Maybe Lizzy could help out" he was saying to Ray, but when she turned to look his eyes were on her. She had tensed so much when he addressed her that she was sure it was visible. Darcy squeezed her waist, bringing her back to the present and reminding her just who she was sitting with and what the stakes were. She forced herself to relax, tilting her head slightly and loosening her sudden death grip on her beer.

"Help?" she asked.

"Thinking about opening a store up at the school. Be great to have a source." Wickham commented.

"We've had this conversation. I'm not dealing for you." Lizzy commented firmly.

"Too bad." He sighed, looking down. "Maybe your loyalties lie with someone else." She couldn't help but tense again, considering she was literally in the lap of a detective. "Maybe you're part of a different Family."

"Save it, Wickham. I don't work for anyone." Lizzy sighed. "How many times do we have to go through this?"

"Maybe that's it." Wickham smiled charmingly. "I guess I got a new friend at the school, right O'Mara?"

"Uh." She could feel Darcy looking at her, but she stared at the TV screen. "Sure."

"Great. We can talk tomorrow when you come to the shop." Wickham replied.

There was another pause and then Wickham continued whatever conversation he was having with Ray. After some time had gone by, Darcy turned to her, and she looked down to see him smiling in a flirtatious way. "So, a beautiful woman comes up to me and says 'Kiss me'" Darcy paused to look down at her lips and she felt a flush run through her despite her best efforts.

"Don't flatter yourself. You just won me fifty bucks." Lizzy huffed, but couldn't help glancing down at his lips briefly.

"So if I were to suggest we find somewhere more private…" he trailed off purposefully, his hand lightly making circles on her hip. She knew it was all an act, that the reason he wanted to find somewhere more private was so that they could talk, or he could snoop around Wickham's, but she couldn't deny, at least to herself, that it was working for her.

"I'd say I wasn't that easy." Lizzy gave him a look, and then slid off his knee. "But for you I'll make an exception." She took his hand, pulling him up. She ignored the knowing looks the boys were giving each other as they weaved their way through the house to find somewhere more private.

"Liz" Wickham's voice stopped them, and she turned back to see what he wanted. She was on edge, not used to so much attention from him. "Ray says some detective approached you."

She let go of Darcy's hand instinctively, then tried to cover it by taking a step closer to Wickham, as if she didn't want Darcy to overhear. Ray was sitting next to Wickham, his eyes boring into hers, as if she was the one who would let something slip. "Yeah. We ditched him, but he found out where I lived." She shrugged, her confused genuine – she was still unsure of how he managed it.

"What'd he want?" Wickham asked, voice deceptively calm. Or was it just actually calm? She was high and paranoid and maybe he didn't know anything.

"He said he was looking for Ray. You know the drill." Lizzy shrugged again. "He just wanted to talk to him, he wasn't in trouble, that kind of thing."

"That's it?" Wickham asked, looking down at another rolled joint, lighting it, and bringing his eyes back to her.

"Yeah. I told him I didn't know where Ray was." She smiled. "I don't think he believed me." Wickham laughed, taking another drag of the joint and passing it to Ray without turning his gaze away from her. "But he didn't have anything on me so what could he do?"

"What was his name?" Wickham asked.

"Oh shit." Lizzy brought her hand up to her forehead, pretending to think hard. "Detective… shit I don't remember."

Wickham shook his head in disappointment. "You remember, or see him again, call me this time."

"Sure." Lizzy shrugged. She waited until he had turned to talk to someone on the opposite side of him before taking Darcy's hand again and leading him towards the back of the house. She opened the sliding glass door and stepped out. There were one or two people out there, but they were all sitting in the lawn chairs and high off their minds. She led him to the back fence until they stood between a crumbling shed and a tall tree that was totally bare. The temperature had dropped and she pulled her coat tighter around her, crossing her arms and leaning against the fence.

"I am so fucking stupid." She said, keeping her voice low. "Oh my God" she put her hands on her knees and tried to control her racing heart.

"It's alright." Darcy said, matching her tone. "You did great."

"I did great." She scoffed, standing up again. "Easy for you to say. I'm the one who just put my life on the line for you." She smacked her forehead. "Oh my God that's what I did, didn't I? What was I thinking?"

"Elizabeth." Darcy stilled her with a hand on her shoulder. "It just happened. You didn't know you'd get Wickham's attention, but you did. I know you went out on a limb for me, and I promise you, I will protect you."

"Protect me?" Lizzy laughed humorlessly. "If this thing goes south you get to pack up and leave town, but I live here. Even if things go exactly as they are supposed to, and you get Wickham off the streets, I guarantee someone in there is going to remember that I'm the one who vouched for you, and I know for a fact that Wickham will not forget."

"I won't pretend that's not true." Darcy replied and Lizzy groaned, covering her eyes with her hand. "But I promise you." Here he pulled her hand down and locked eyes with her. "I promise you- I will keep you safe."

"Sure." She replied, unconvinced. All this for a measly fifty bucks.

"Liz!" a loud whisper called out. Before she could answer back, or react in anyway, Darcy leaned forward and kissed her- hard. The force of it pushed her back against the fence as one hand came up behind her neck to keep her there if she decided to pull back. His other hand gripped her waist and she felt her own hands come up to grip his broad shoulders. Instinctively and despite the shock, she kissed him back.

"Liz!" the voice was closer now, almost directly behind Darcy, who she felt pull back.

"What?!" she asked irritably. He heart was pounding in her ears. What the hell was that for?

"We need to talk. Who the fuck is this guy?" Ray wanted to know, sizing up Darcy. Back in character, Darcy glared at him. Or perhaps it was natural – Darcy seemed to always be glaring at people.

"Fuck off Ray." Lizzy said, still waiting for her heart to calm down after the sudden attack by Darcy.

"We need to talk." He looked around, completely obvious; if anyone was actually looking, his body language screamed conspicuous. "About that cop."

"Not now you idiot." She glared at him. "Just stick to our story and we'll be fine."

"But-" Ray started.

"Go Ray." Lizzy glared at him. "Before Wickham notices you're gone." Ray hesitated but threw his hands up and muttered something, walking away.

"Fuck." Lizzy leaned her head back against the fence, and then realized they were still tangled up in each other and dropped her hands from his shoulders and pushed him back.

"We need to talk as well." Darcy murmured, dropping his hands but not backing up. He looked down at her, and for a second she thought he might kiss her again, but then he finally pulled back away from her. "I'll take you home."

* * *

Author's notes: Thank you all for the reviews, and please know I am trying to work the answers to whatever questions I have received into the story organically rather than coming right out and answering, but I do appreciate everyone who took the time to leave a note or ask a question.

Sherries Spanish:

_Chica_- friend

_Bien bueno – _slang for 'very hot'

_Comemierdas_ – slang for 'shit-eaters'.

_Mierda_ – crap/shit.


	4. Chapter 4

**Recap of Previous Chapter:** Ray's girlfriend Sherrie points Darcy out to Lizzy at Wickham's party. Sherrie then tells her about Sammy, a kid Lizzy knows from her father's community center, and how Wickham set him up to get jumped. Fuelled by alcohol, anger at Wickham, and competitiveness with Sherrie, Lizzy daringly approaches Darcy, who introduces himself as Will O'Mara. She tells him to kiss her, which gains the attention of Wickham. Backed into a corner, she tells Wickham that she knows Will from school. Wickham offers him an interview at his chop shop on Lizzy's good opinion. Lizzy pulls Will aside to show him Wickham's hiding spot but is once more stopped by Wickham asking her about the detective Ray said was hassling her. She feigns forgetfulness when asked his name, then finally goes out back with Will. Before they have a chance to really talk, they get interrupted by Ray.

"_We need to talk." He looked around, completely obvious; if anyone was actually looking, his body language screamed conspicuous. "About that cop." _

"_Not now you idiot." She glared at him. "Just stick to our story and we'll be fine." _

"_But-" Ray started. _

"_Go Ray." Lizzy glared at him. "Before Wickham notices you're gone." Ray hesitated but threw his hands up and muttered something, walking away. _

"_Fuck." Lizzy leaned her head back against the fence, and then realized they were still tangled up in each other and dropped her hands from his shoulders and pushed him back. _

"_We need to talk as well." Darcy murmured, dropping his hands but not backing up. He looked down at her, and for a second she thought he might kiss her again, but then he finally pulled back away from her. "I'll take you home."_

* * *

As happy as Lizzy was that she got a ride home that night instead of having to make the trip in the freezing night air, the constant rush of panic that ran through her as she remembered what she had done and the danger she was in was not worth the relief of a cold nights walk home. Neither was there much consolation in the fifty bucks she had taken off Sherrie. She vacillated between panic of having just put herself in Wickham's crosshairs – made all the more dangerous for the fact that any help she would have normally have against him would become moot as soon as they found out she was helping a cop – and respite from the panic as she attempted to calm herself down by telling herself it wasn't as bad as she thought it was. So she vouched for Darcy – Will O'Mara. So what? That didn't necessarily mean she knew he was a cop. Maybe all she would get was some flak for being dumb enough to befriend an undercover cop, and if she got that then everyone else he fooled would be in the same boat. Maybe it wasn't as bad as all that.

Then she would remember the two missing girls that were connected to Wickham and the panic cycle would start all over again.

Lizzy didn't know what was going through the detectives head, but he was just as quiet as she was; the ride back to her apartment was filled with the rumble of the car's unusually load engine and their individual breaths. Mercifully, the ride was short. Darcy pulled off to the side of the road in front of her building and, still silent, followed her up the three flights to her apartment. She was reminded of just two nights ago when they were in the same positions. Tonight, however, she didn't stop him at the door with any playful banter; they entered, still without having broken their silence, as she turned on some lights and he sunk into the couch. She was relieved to see Charlotte was either sleeping or not home yet so they had the freedom to speak openly.

She may not be labeled as chatty, but Lizzy rarely found herself without anything to say. She could talk to street hoods as freely as she could talk to college presidents. Here alone with a detective who was now pretending to be... what exactly? Her boyfriend? Her friend? She didn't know, and for the life of her couldn't think how to ask the questions she needed answers to.

Suddenly, Darcy broke the silence by asking her about college, her classes, and especially which math class she had taken, and when. Lizzy was momentarily confused until she remembered the cover story she had invented on the spot when Wickham had question their meeting. Unsatisfied at not being able to ask her own questions, but content that at least something was getting accomplished, she answer every question. They ran over their cover story many times that night; the exact day they had met, which classes they had been in together, when she had invited him to the party.

"No, it was math class. You know it was math, you're just trying to trip me up to make sure I'm paying attention. Need I remind you exactly how smart I am, or how aware I am that my life is on the line just as much as yours?" Lizzy replied to one of his many inquiries with a sardonic glare.

"Point taken." Darcy, who had been doing a slow pace around the small living room this whole time, had finally sighed and sat down next to her on the couch. "I'll meet with my captain early tomorrow morning and then we'll go through the steps to get Will O'Mara on record as being in your class, in case anyone has the means or cause to check."

"So, how long will it take you to take down Wickham?" Lizzy wondered.

"Depends how fast I can get him to trust me. We also need to make sure there's no one higher than him that's just going to replace him when we take him out." Darcy replied, and then sighed. "To be honest my priority is not shutting down his operation, my priority is getting him for those murders, and finding out if there are more victims out there. It may be months."

"Hmm." Lizzy replied, having guessed the time period pretty closely.

"Listen." He sat up straight and she followed suit. "I know you're putting yourself on the line for me, and I want you to know how serious I was when I said I would protect you."

"Okay, but how will you protect me once you're ready to arrest Wickham?" Lizzy questioned.

"I have a few ideas on that, but I promise no matter what happens, I will keep you safe." Darcy said earnestly. It might have been the fact that a six foot two super-hot super cop was the one promising to keep her safe, but Lizzy couldn't help believing him. "Here. My cell." Darcy took Lizzy's phone off the side table and programmed his number in it. "If you are ever in danger and you need help, call me or text me a code word to let me know you're in trouble."

"What code word?" Lizzy questioned.

"Something unusual enough that you won't accidentally use it in everyday conversation, but not so unusual that it'll tip off someone who may be listening, or reading your texts." Darcy replied, apparently leaving it up to her. She thought for a moment.

"Apricot." She decided. Her statement surprised a smile out of him and she enjoyed how it lightened his features.

"Apricot?" he questioned.

"Sure. How many times do you use Apricot in everyday conversation?" she shrugged. He seemed to think about it before shrugging with a little laugh.

"Apricot it is."

He left shortly after that, with a promise to meet up with her sometime tomorrow before he went to Wickham's garage. She sat up a little longer, even though she had an early class the next morning and would be hating life when she had to get up. She thought about what had happened that night, and what may happen in the future; what she could do to get out of it, and cursing herself for not having the courage to ask if this meant they were supposed to be a couple while he was undercover. In the end, she finally decided to at least attempt sleep and got ready for bed. Despite the knot of worry in her throat which she assumed would last as long as her fake relationship with Will O'Mara lasted, she fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

She was up as late as possible to be able to still make the bus and class on time. Charlotte was already gone to open the diner; she hoped her roommate didn't think she was trying to avoid her after their fight. She never held onto anger for very long and she was already over Charlotte's harsh, if well-meaning, words. She thought out the logistics of stopping by the diner before class, as she was want to do, but doubted she had the time. Usually she would be up early enough to catch a ride with Charlotte, then either have Ray give her a ride to school, as she had done the day she met the detective, or catch the bus. She briefly debated calling the detective, her theoretical boyfriend, for a ride, but immediately squashed it. He had already told her he'd be spending the morning in conference with his captain, and besides that she was not ready to casually call up Will O'Mara and tell him to give her a ride to school. Although, if she was going to help him out with taking Wickham down- even if it's only her 'okay' that opens the door for him, she had better be getting some perks out of it.

So it was that she bemoaned her position one minute and was thinking of how to take advantage of it the next. Her swirling thoughts lasted throughout the morning and into her first class, physics. It was a two hour class, combining lecture and lab portion; she usually made an effort to pay attention, this being one of her more difficult classes. Also, being an early morning class that happened to be made up of younger kids, she was one of the only students to answer when the teacher made an inquiry to see if they understood the materiel. She sat near the back today, her book open and a pencil hovering over a blank sheet of paper, trying not to feel bad as he was met with a silent classroom after asking what Newtons second law was. Her thoughts were mostly focused on her predicament with Wickham and the undercover detective, but she also managed to focus enough to get the lab portion done in time before class ended.

After that she had an hour free before her next class, so she wondered over to the cafeteria to grab some breakfast. She was standing in the hot food line debating bagels and waffles when someone bumped into her from behind.

"Oh! Sorry about that." She turned to see it was a boy she recognized from her intro to computers class. "Oh hey, Elizabeth right?"

"Yeah." She replied with a smile. He sat a few seats away from her in class. He always seemed to be smiling and goofing around, and although they never really talked before he always gave her a smile and a wave in the morning. "Andrew?"

"Yeah." He kind of laughed in reply. He was kind of cute, but definitely younger than she was. He had a skater style about him, longer than average hair and clothes that were a bit oversized on him. "Sorry about hitting you like that." He added, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it." She smiled again, shaking his hand off and covering it up by turning to move forward in the line. She had a thing about her personal space, especially when it came to people she didn't know. It wasn't a huge issue; it was probably a habit she picked up growing up with kids who highly valued their personal space and saw any violation of that as a potential attack. Whatever reason, she was of the belief that if you don't know someone, you should keep your damn hands to yourself. Of course, that being said, an image of the detective popped into her head and she had to admit to some exceptions to that rule.

"So how's your semester going?" he asked apparently not taking offense.

"Well so far, I guess, for being the first week. How about you?" she asked in reply, moving ever slowly towards the front of the line.

"Not too bad." He replied. "I have Martin for English." He made a face of exaggerated horror

"That's tough." She replied sympathetically. "I had her last semester, but I managed an A."

"Wow." He said, clearly impressed. "I heard Martin never gave out A's."

"Well, it wasn't easy. I suggest going to the writing center for every paper she assigns. She gives extra credit, or at least she did, and you get help with your paper." She advised.

"Sweet. I'll do that." He replied. Finally, she was at the head of the line. She put in her order of a bagel and cream cheese, and then waited for it to be toasted as Andrew put in his order of eggs, bacon and waffles. They chit chatted a little more, but her bagel was done in no time so she smiled at Andrew and told him she'd see him tomorrow in class, and then went to grab an orange juice and a cup of yogurt from the cold food area. After paying for her breakfast, she headed for the back corner of the cafeteria, hoping Andrew wouldn't follow her. He wasn't a bad guy but she had too much on her mind that morning to make small talk about classes, with all the usual questions; how many semesters do you have left, where are you going after this, what do you want to do with your degree? She ate her breakfast in record time, probably setting herself up for a stomach ache later on, and then headed off to her next class.

She was still a little early, but the previous class had let out, so she made her way back to her customary seat. It was by the window near the back, a dangerous seat for being distracted, but Lizzy couldn't help being near the view. It faced the back of the school and a bit of the parking lot, but was mostly of an open field with a close tree line. The agriculture club always planted a variety of plants and flowers in the field, and although it was winter and nothing was alive and the tress all were bare, something about the field felt serene to Lizzy. She let her mind wonder a bit, as she gazed upon the bit of wildlife and was only startled back into reality by someone dropping a notebook in the desk next to her. She turned to see who it was, her face surely portraying the incredulity she felt at someone choosing to sit next to her in the otherwise empty classroom. When she saw who it was, however, the look of incredulity turned into a look of surprise.

"Detective." She winced instantly, glancing around to make sure the room really was as empty as she believed. To her relief, it was. "I mean Will. What are you doing here?" He seemed to let her unintentional blunder go, but didn't answer for a moment as he arranged his worn backpack under his desk and tried to get his tall frame comfortable in the close quartered table and chairs. She got a good look at what he was wearing, a variation of what she had seen him in before. Gray jeans and a white t-shirt this time, still underneath that beat up leather jacket he seemed to always wear. He hadn't shaved yet either, and his stubble was on the verge of growing into a beard.

"We go to school together, remember?" he glanced around the room, though much more subtly than she had just done. "We have this class and geology together. I also have an automotive class." He added under his breath. People were just starting to trickle in. "It was hard to find one without any known associates of Wickham's who might be suspicious of my late start."

"But, why are you in two of my classes?" she wondered, flustered.

"Isn't that what couples in college do? Take classes together?" he asked curiously. It didn't seem a rhetorical question, he looked like he generally had no idea how normal couples acted. He was out of luck if he was coming to her for the answer to that. She felt momentary relief at finally having her question of whether or not they were going to pretended to be a couple answered, but that knot of panic began to swell once more when he added "Plus this way I can keep an eye on you."

Keep an eye on her, because she was in danger now. Although he was keeping an eye on her in the one place she felt Wickham would never make a move to harm her… unless maybe she had a night class, or he tried to grab her on her way to or from school. Thinking about the many ways Wickham could get to her was perhaps not the wisest thing to do when trying to stave off panic. Instead, she tried to focus on the positive.

"Does this mean I get a ride to school every day?" she asked with her most charming smile. He glanced down at her and looked to be trying to not smile in return.

"Of course. I told you, I'm here to protect you" was his controlled reply. She wanted to say something about how he needn't keep reminding her of the danger she was in, but was sure he would come back with some kind of statement on how she shouldn't forget to always be on guard. Good advice, especially considering her slip up just a few minutes ago. They were silent for a few more minutes as the rest of the class filled the room before he broke it once more.

"Speaking of a late start, I wasn't able to get my book yet." He pulled her open book so it slide between them and flashed his own charming smile back at her. "Mind if we share, sweetheart?"

She knew it was an act, one that she would have to get used to, but that knowledge didn't help her pulse from beating a little faster when he turned on the boyfriend mode. She pushed any happy thoughts of him aside and feigned annoyance instead. "No pet names."

He smiled again. "You got it, sweetheart." Before she could reply, class started.

It was her last class of the day, and his. He offered her a ride home, or to Charlotte's. As pathetic as she was aware it was, she wasn't ready to say goodbye just yet. They had spent an hour in each other company, but hadn't had a chance to really talk.

"Why don't we head to the library instead? We can get started on homework." She held up the book. "And, talk." She added with a more significant look.

"Rain check." He said leading her out of class with a hand on her back. "I have to meet Wickham this afternoon."

"Right." She replied, disappointed. They were both silent until they got to his car. Instead of the black sedan she had seen that first day they met and last night, he was driving a blue Audi that had a few years under its belt and looked a little worse for wear. "Where'd you get the car?" she asked once they were both safely inside and couldn't be overheard.

"How do you know it's not mine?" he asked with a curious look.

"It just doesn't seem like a car you would drive." She shrugged. He processed that for a moment before answering.

"My cousin let me borrow it. We switched." He replied simply. The mention of a cousin intrigued her, but she had a more pressing question.

"Do you actually know anything about fixing cars?" she wondered, noticing his slight wince and fearing the worst.

"A fair amount. There was always a possibility of going undercover; we just never had the opportunity until now." He glanced at her, then back at the road. Should she feel proud that she was responsible for him finally having an opportunity to go undercover? It seemed like such a little thing, but the impact of her reckless decision last night seemed to have opened the door or him. "I studied up when I could get the chance." She wanted to question him further on exactly how much was 'a fair amount' and if he thought it would be enough to get a job at Wickham's garage, something that she knew he was counting on. She held back, understanding that if he was worried about it then questioning him on his abilities would probably only cause him more stress. His meeting was today and there was nothing that could be done to further prepare him in the next half hour or so. Or was there?

"Wickham doesn't like anyone who thinks, or acts, like he's superior to him." She commented. He glanced at her once more before returning his eye to the road. She took that as a sign of his interest and thought further of what she knew. "He likes to think he's some kind of genius, and I have to admit he's smarter than the average drug dealer, but he mostly likes to sprout off facts he's memorized to impress the underlings, so I would advise you never correct him, or let him know you already knew that… I don't know, that the left temporal lobe controls speech."

"Someone was paying attention in class today." Will smiled.

"I'm trying to help here." She huffed at him.

"I know, I'm sorry." He said with a guilty look on his face. "Please, continue."

"I don't know him that well, but I do hear stories of people he's cut off. He rarely gives people second chances once they've disappointed him. Ray's pretty close to him, and he mostly sucks up, but he also makes himself useful by taking initiative. I get the feeling Wickham likes the attention and the lifestyle, but not necessarily the trouble of actually running the chop shop and selling drugs. You'll be useful to him more in school, where he's been trying to get a source to sell." Lizzy informed him. He glanced at her again once she had finished.

"I thought you didn't know him that well." He commented. There was no suspicion or accusation in his tone, just curiosity.

"I don't." Lizzy automatically replied. Then she thought of all she had said. "Well, I guess I know him better than I thought I did. I guess I've noticed more than I thought I did."

"I appreciate the help." He said as he pulled up to Charlotte's diner. "I'll give you a call after, to let you know how it goes."

"Okay." She said, nervous for him. She didn't know why; if this meeting didn't go well, it was unlikely that anything bad would happen to them, unless he found out somehow that Darcy was a cop. If anything, she should be hoping that it did go badly and that Wickham wasn't impressed with him, so that this little charade of theirs could end and she could go back to worrying about picking a major in college or which university she should attend rather than if her pretend cop boyfriend gets found out and she gets labeled as a narc.

Still, she couldn't help in being sincere when she told him, "Good luck."

"Thanks." He gave her a confident smile, and she was reminded of JJ; two men she had shown interest in and they were both too cocky for their own good, in her opinion. Both dangerous, in their own ways, and both breathed alpha male. She should examine her ideal love interests closer, but as she was want to do, she shoved it aside for another day, collected her messenger bag and exited the car.

"Text me when you leave. I'll try to wrap it up so I have time to give you a ride home. I don't like the idea of you walking the streets alone." He rolled his window down to tell her. Her heart fluttered at his attention before she reminded herself that it was literally his job to care about her safety, since she had stuck her head out for him.

"Alright. I'll hang out and take my time, maybe do my homework." She shrugged. He lifted a hand to wave goodbye, and she headed into the diner.


	5. Chapter 5

**Recap of Previous Chapter: **Darcy takes Lizzy home, where they discuss their back story and come up with a safe word, apricot, in case Lizzy ever gets into trouble. She stays up late thinking about the mess she got herself into, and wakes up later than usual the next morning. After her first class, she gets something to eat at the cafe and runs into Andrew, a boy from her computer class. They chat, but she leaves early, not in the mood for idle conversation. She reaches her next class early and in her surprise at seeing Darcy show up, accidentally calls him detective. Luckily, the classroom was empty and no one heard. He informs her they share two classes, and confirms they will in fact pretend to be dating. After class is over, he offers to take her to Charlotte's diner while he has a meeting with Wickham. She quizzes him on his knowledge of automotives, which he admits to being less than totally knowledgeable on, then gives him advice on all she's knows about Wickham's mood.

_"Thanks." He gave her a confident smile, and she was reminded of JJ; two men she had shown interest in and they were both too cocky for their own good, in her opinion. Both dangerous, in their own ways, and both breathed alpha male. She should examine her ideal love interests closer, but as she was want to do, she shoved it aside for another day, collected her messenger bag and exited the car._

_"Text me when you leave. I'll try to wrap it up so I have time to give you a ride home. I don't like the idea of you walking the streets alone." He rolled his window down to tell her. Her heart fluttered at his attention before she reminded herself that it was literally his job to care about her safety, since she had stuck her head out for him._

_"Alright. I'll hang out and take my time, maybe do my homework." She shrugged. He lifted a hand to wave goodbye, and she headed into the diner._

* * *

"Whoa." Lizzy couldn't help but mutter aloud as she walked into Charlotte's diner. On average, the place didn't get that much business and Charlotte was able to waitress alone during the week to avoid paying someone else a salary. On the weekends she picked up a waitress from a nearby restaurant who wanted the extra money another shift would bring; the same restaurant that loaned Charlotte the temporary cooks for a few weeks. It wasn't strictly legal; she paid them under the table to avoid the hassle of putting them on payroll and with the added benefit of being able to pick and choose their hours. Overall, it worked out well. Every once in a while, however, the place become inexplicably packed; Lizzy just walked into one of those times. Charlotte looked hassled and some of the customers looked ready to split.

Lizzy tossed her backpack behind the counter, tied her hair back and grabbed one of Charlotte's notepads and pens. Charlotte took the time to give her a grateful look before directing her to a table that hadn't been served yet. Lizzy did alright. Someone with more experience would have perhaps been faster or friendlier to increase tips, but the job got done and everyone left with a full stomach. As things slowed down, Charlotte directed Lizzy to have a seat at the back table and brought her a plate of chicken wings and fries.

"Wow." Lizzy said after a moment. "Charlotte, these are ridiculously good."

"I know." She said, sounding annoyed but not quiet pulling it off due to the small smile on her face. She looked behind her to the counter and lowered her voice. "That arrogant cook of mine; he's really good. I think word is already getting out, and some of the customers from his last place followed him here."

Lizzy glanced over to the counter, behind which the cook was concentrating over cleaning off the grill. She hadn't met him properly yet, only listened to Charlotte's complaints about his personality and hurriedly barked orders for food at him during the past hour. "What was his name again?"

"Collin." Charlotte mumbled back, turning once more to make sure they weren't being overheard. "If this keeps up I'll have to have someone in the weekday afternoons as well. What a pain." She sighed, chewing on her lip.

"Hire that Jasmine girl, she's good and doesn't mind the crazy hours." Lizzy suggested as she savored the food.

"I can't poach her from Frank, he'd never lend me anyone again." Charlotte replied dismissively. Her blunt manner didn't bother Lizzy, she had known Charlotte far too long. Instead, she chewed thoughtfully and wondered how she would explain this whole mess she had gotten herself into to Charlotte.

Just as she was coming up with possible scenarios in her head, Charlotte sighed, and then turned to Lizzy with a pointed look. "So who's the guy?"

"What?" she sputtered. They knew each other well, but this level of mind reading was a bit much.

"Come on. You can't keep secrets in this neighborhood." Charlotte informed her with a knowing smile. "I couldn't believe it when I heard you were dating some dealer of Wickham's, but I'm also not blind. I saw you getting dropped off by some hottie. Are you already giving up on your detective Adonis?"

Lizzy looked sharply around to see if anyone heard her. There were still a few groups spread around the diner, but no one she knew. "Charlotte, we have to talk, but not here. Just drop it for now, okay?"

Charlotte gave her a penetrating look, but eventually nodded. "I have a feeling I'm not going to like this." She sighed once more before standing up and returning to her tables.

Lizzy spent the rest of her meal thinking. Charlotte was the only one who had ever seen Will as the detective, and if they were supposed to be a couple, there was no way he could avoid meeting her. Therefore, Lizzy would have to tell Charlotte the truth of the situation, something she was wholly dreading. Charlotte was her best friend, as close as a sister, but she was born with an innate mistrust of cops and an especially unfriendly view of anyone who ratted to the cops about someone. No matter what the circumstance, she would not have an understanding view of the situation. If she felt inclined to tell her brother, Lizzy would be getting it all over again from him, with the added trouble of JJ interfering. She would not put it past him to take matters into his own hands when it came to the detective, and as much as she wished not to be in the situation, there was nothing to do now but trust Darcy and see things through. Besides, she was well aware of the dangerous mistake she had made, and having her two best friends tell her how much she messed up would not help the situation. Still, in Charlotte's case it couldn't be avoided.

She was interrupted by her phone vibrating.

_Finishing up here, pick you up in a few_ ~ Will

She quickly texted him back: '_Bus stop around the corner_' After shoveling the last bit of fries in her mouth, she brought her plate up to the counter to exchange it with her backpack.

"I'm heading home. See you tonight?" Lizzy asked Charlotte.

"Maybe. I'll be home late; I have to do the monthlies." Charlotte replied giving her a 'we need to talk' look.

"Tomorrow morning then." Lizzy shrugged, trying to assure her they would by a look. "Killer wings, Collin." She called back to the kitchen. Collin's head popped up and he gave her a smug smile.

"You know it." He replied, but directed his self-assured smile towards Charlotte.

"Please do not inflate his ego any more than it already is." Charlotte sounded exasperated as she spoke to the ceiling. Lizzy gave her a sheepish look, then headed out the door.

She didn't actually make it all the way to the bus stop before Will picked her up. "How'd it go?" she asked as soon as she was in the car.

"Well, I think." He replied. "He's going to have me selling in school."

"Are you actually going to sell drugs?" she wondered.

"In some cases I'll have to, to people who know Wickham has a connection in the school, but for the rest I'll turn it into my department and tell him I sold it." Darcy explained. She thought about that for a minute before he broke the silence once more.

"Why didn't I pick you up at the diner?" he wanted to know.

"Charlotte is my roommate, my best friend. She saw you that day we met and she's already heard that I'm dating a dealer in Wickham's crew, so if she saw you before I had a chance to explain.." she trailed of as he nodded in understanding.

"What will you tell her?" he questioned.

"The truth, I guess." Lizzy replied.

"Do you think that's safe? She's pretty connected to the Temple gang." He pointed out.

"The Temple Families, or just The Family. No one calls it the Temple gang." She took a minute to correct him. He rolled his eyes. "And it's not like I'll have much of choice. She knows you're a cop, telling her you've quit the force and decided on a life of crime in the span of two days is probably not going to convince her."

He was silent for a few minutes, clearly trying to think of a better story to tell before he finally sighed. "Alright, but do you really think she'll keep my identity secret?"

"No idea" he looked sharply at her and she put her hands up in a defensive gesture. "Look detective, I am just being honest. I don't know how she'll react."

"Will." He said simply.

"I don't know how she _will_ react?" Lizzy repeated confused. He actually smiled.

"You need to get used to calling me Will. What you will or won't tell her isn't going to matter if you slip up and call me detective again." He turned to give her a look. She concentrated on the scar under his right eye to control her blush.

"Okay, Will." She tried the name out. "What's your real first name?" she wondered. He looked uncomfortable. "Wow really? I'm risking my life for you and you can't even tell me your real name?" she asked, affronted.

"No it's not that." He countered hurriedly. He sighed, pulling over onto her street. "It's Fitzwilliam."

"Fitzwilliam?" she asked, instantly thinking what an awesome name that was. However, he looked so uncomfortable that she couldn't help but tease him. He was obviously not happy with how amused she looked. "What century were your parents living in when they named you that?"

"It's a family name." he replied shortly.

"I see." She smiled.

He scowled in response, getting out of the car and pulling his warn blue backpack with him. She wanted to ask him where he came up with the last name O'Mara, but seeing as how they were out in the middle of the street where they could be overheard and how paranoid he seemed to be about letting anything slip in public, she kept her mouth shut. For now. He slipped his own backpack over his shoulder, then took hers from her, holding it in his left hand and taking her hand in his right. She wanted to tease him about carrying her books and holding hands as if they were high school sweethearts, but decided to back off after how perturbed he looked when she laughed after he told her his real name. Besides, it was kind of sweet.

After walking up the three stories and letting him into her apartment, Lizzy directed him to toss their bags onto the couch and asked him if he wanted anything to eat or drink. He said he was fine, so they both settled in on her couch.

"About Charlotte. Maybe I should be here when you tell her." He started.

"I don't think that's a good idea." She shook her head. "I've known her my whole life, I think I she'll be more open to discussion without you here."

"If we aren't sure she'll be accepting, perhaps we shouldn't be telling her. I don't want to risk all we've accomplished so far on a chance she might not approve of your involvement and tell someone- namely her brother." Will replied.

"How are we supposed to keep her from meeting you if we don't tell her the truth?" Lizzy asked. "She'll be far more suspicious if I was dating someone that she never met." He seemed to think about it for a minute. "Look, Charlotte may have grown up under the influence of the gang life, but she has also been distancing herself from it. She is focused on her diner and, maybe if you were going after someone in the Families things would be different, but aside from telling me how stupid I am to be doing this, I think it's safe to assume she'll be willing to keep our secret."

"Are you sure about that?" Will wanted to know.

"As sure as I can be. I mean, if her brother were to ask her point blank if I was dating an undercover cop she wouldn't lie to him, but what are the chances of that happening?" Lizzy wondered. Will still looked concerned, so she added "Besides, if JJ found out he wouldn't let the truth out, he would know what kind of danger that would put me in."

"What would he do if he found out?" Will asked. Lizzy thought about it.

"He would probably tell me to out you as a cop to save myself and then do what he could to protect me from whatever backlash I might receive from people who thought I was a narc." Lizzy guessed.

"Well," Will finally said after a few silent and tense minutes when Lizzy feared he would ask her what she would do if JJ told her to out him. "We'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it. Tell Charlotte tonight, if you feel like it's the best option but text me to let me know how it goes. Remember that someone could get ahold of your phone and text messages, so keep it vague." He leaned causally back against the couch, apparently relaxed now that a decision had been made. It suddenly struck her how well he looked, sitting casually in her living room.

"Thanks, because I'm an idiot" she replied, rolling her eyes. So far, the only defense she had against his handsomeness was a biting wit. He didn't seem to take offense; well, in any case, he always seemed to be scowling at her, so it was hard to tell when he took offense. There was a knock at the door, and Lizzy rose to answer it, grateful for the distraction even if she wasn't totally comfortable for anyone to see her together with the detective yet.

"Ray." She greeted, surprised to see him and his girlfriend Sherrie standing on the other side of his door. They saw each other pretty regularly, but Ray rarely stopped by unannounced. "Come on in."

"Ah, look at that - your boyfriend is here." Sherrie said, glancing at Ray. "I hope we ain't interrupting." She added, giving Lizzy a not so subtly elbow the ribs.

"We're just doing homework." Lizzy was quick to reply. God, that was lame. It had been way to long since Lizzy had a relationship if she was this out of practice and jumpy at even the slight hint at being alone with a boy whom she was supposed to have been dating.

"Right." Sherrie winked at her.

Ray headed over to Will, handing him a large paper bag and telling him Wickham had instructed him to deliver it. "I wasn't sure you'd be here, but Wickham thought I should stop by and see."

Lizzy and Will exchanged a look, apparently both having the same thought: that this may have been a test to see if they were actually dating. If so, it was subtly done; Lizzy wondered if Wickham was the paranoid one or if they were, by looking too much into what could very well be an innocent errand.

"So what's on the agenda tonight?" Sherrie asked, plopping down on the sofa next to Will.

"We were just going to have a quiet night in, finish up homework and watch a movie." Lizzy offered, leaning against the small table they squeezed in near the kitchen for meals. She needed to stop mentioning homework. What was she, twelve? Ray claimed the recliner that didn't actually recline anymore.

"Ugh, how boring." Sherrie sneered at the idea. "You should come with us to the club."

"I've got early classes, you know I don't go out on weekdays." Lizzy replied, thinking that the last thing she'd like to do was go clubbing with Ray and his airhead girlfriend.

"I bet Will feels like going clubbing, don'tcha Will?" Sherrie asked flirtatiously. Lizzy scowled at her, her estimation for Ray's girlfriend sinking even lower than it was before. How dare she flirt so openly with Lizzy's boyfriend, and right in front of Ray? Although Ray was busy looking through his phone and apparently didn't notice his girlfriend was practically in the lab of another man, Lizzy was another matter. So what if Will and she weren't really a couple, Sherrie didn't know that.

"I'm not much of a dancer, I'm afraid." He said in a clipped voice, crossing his arms. She shouldn't feel so relieved at his dismissal of Sherrie, but she couldn't help but have it raise his estimation in her eyes. Sherrie looked like she didn't understand what he had said.

"Well, it's still early." She shrugged, trying again. "Maybe we could all get dinner before the club." She suggested, finally tearing her eyes from Will to add "That's probably tame enough for you, Lizzy." Lizzy returned Sherrie's fake smile with one of her own, suspecting it looked more like a grimace.

"Yeah, I'm starved. What about the diner?" Ray finally pulled his head out of his phone to chime in.

"Not the diner." Lizzy immediately replied. Ray and Sherrie gave her puzzled looks.

"You and Charlotte have another fight?" Ray guessed with an indulgent smile. Lizzy shrugged, letting him form his own conclusions. "Ok, let's go to Outback. I feel like a steak anyway."

Lizzy glanced at Will to gauge his interest in this impromptu date. She didn't profess to be adept at reading his looks, but she guessed he was leaving it up to her. She wasn't particularly hungry, having just eaten those wings and fries, but she knew more time in Rays company would be good for Will; Ray wasn't Wickham's official right hand man, but he was probably closer to Wickham than anyone, and if he and Will became more friendly, it could only help.

"Alright." She replied with a shrug. "Do you want to ride with us or take your bike?"

"We'll follow you so we don't have to come all the way back here." Ray replied, then put a hand on her shoulder. "Have I told you how happy I am that you have someone else to cart you around for once?"

"Ha, ha," she stuck her tongue out at him as Sherrie and Will got off the couch. Will stashed the bag that Lizzy suspected was filled with the drugs he was supposed to distribute into his backpack before joining them. As uneasy as she was of having drugs in her apartment, the fact that they belonged to a police detective made her a little more tolerant. They all made their way downstairs and into, or in Rays case, onto their respective vehicles.

"Are you okay with this?" she asked once they were alone.

"Yeah. Time spent with Ray will do me good." Will replied.

"Huh." Lizzy said aloud.

"What?" he wanted to know.

"That's what I thought, too." She shrugged. He looked over at her with a searching glance, and then turned his attention back to the road and following Ray to the restaurant.

Diner went well, for Will at least. Sherrie didn't let up on not-so-subtly flirting with him, but Ray and he got to know each other better as well. Lizzy had eaten those wings not too long ago, so she ate a light meal, causing Sherrie to make a comment on how she must be watching her figure now that she had someone to watch it for. Lizzy let it go, happy in the knowledge that Sherrie was simply jealous, and probably still a little sore over the loss of the fifty dollars to Lizzy.

Will and Ray bonded over beer, steaks, and stories of previous fights they had been in while Lizzy enjoyed the attention he paid her in front of Sherrie. Not that she needed someone's attention to feel worthy; still, she had to admit the enjoyment she felt at seeing him turn down Sherrie's advances and become increasingly handsy with Lizzy herself. By the end of the meal, which Will offered to cover, putting him in even higher estimation with Ray, Sherrie was pouting next to Ray and Lizzy was trying not to gloat.

"Here, do you mind?" Will asked, handing her the keys to his car as he put his arm around her. They were standing just outside the restaurant waiting for Ray and Sherrie to join them.

"You think I was going to let your drunk ass drive me home?" Lizzy teased, taking the keys. He grinned down at her but was prevented from replying by Ray and Sherrie exiting the restaurant.

"Well, we'll catch you guys later." Ray said holding a hand out to Will so they could slap palms. "Liz." He added, pinching her cheek, as obnoxious as an elder brother. He put his own arm around Sherrie and led her out to where he parked his bike.

"Drive safe" she called after him, aware that he'd had just as much to drink as Will, who was leaning heavily against her. She led them back to his car and got behind the wheel, taking a minute to adjust the seat and mirrors for her much shorter frame. Will leaned his head back and closed his eyes the whole way home. Once they were back at her place, he sunk into the couch with a groan.

"I'd say that was a success." Lizzy commented with a smile, joining him on the couch.

"He seems to want to take me under his wing." Will replied, leaning his head back.

"Rays' a good guy." Lizzy said, chewing her lip as she thought about how he was going to deal with the fallout of Wickham getting locked up. No doubt he would land on his feet, as he always did. In fact, chances were good that he would take up charge of Wickham's little crew. She didn't begrudge him the opportunity, however much she disliked seeing him in such a dangerous position. Lately he seemed to thrive with responsibility, though.

"You're worried about him." Will observed. She glanced over, unaware he had been watching her

"I guess I am." She replied. "You're only taking Wickham down, right?"

"Wickham, and anyone else who's a major player in his operation. Ray's close to him, but I have no intention on focusing on him. I just want to get Wickham off the street before he has the chance to hurt anyone else." Will assured her. A wave of relief went through her. He could be lying, of course, but something about him made her trust him. Despite being an undercover cop infiltrating a gang of drug dealers lead by a murdering psychopath, he seemed to value honesty. She barely knew him, but the intimacy of their situation forced them to trust each other in less time than they would have in normal circumstances.

"Come on." She said suddenly, pulling him up off the couch.

"What are you doing?" he asked. He was lucky she seemed to be learning how to tell his true moods from his apparent inborn harshness. She could have easily been put off by the biting tone that seemed to be default for him. Instead, she surmised correctly that he was simply tired and unwilling to move. She didn't answer, but lead him past the bathroom, where she pulled two aspirin form the medicine cabinet and handed them to him along with a full glass of water. Once he had taken them, she guided him further into the apartment until she was pushing him through her bedroom door.

"Uh, Elizabeth," he sputtered looking less like a dangerous drug dealer or menacing, no-nonsense cop and more like someone who had found himself in an extremely uncomfortable situation he had no idea how to get out of.

"Relax" she laughed outright at his reaction. "I'm not going to take advantage of you in your inebriated state." She wiggled her eyes at him suggestively. "Sleep off the alcohol; I'll wake you up in a few hours."

"But-" he started to say but she interrupted him.

"Think of it this way, if anyone asks you if you've slept in my bed, you can honestly say yes. Goodnight!" she said cheerfully, closing the door before he could reply and heading back into the living room to work on homework.

* * *

They had gotten home from dinner at around seven, and Will finally emerged from her bedroom at ten. She had finished homework that wasn't even due until next week, but felt better for having gotten it out of the way. Ostensibly she was watching TV, but in reality she was imagining all the ways her fake relationship could go wrong for her. Anyone who was pissed at finding out his true identity, from Wickham and anyone higher up in his organization that may exist to people like Ray or Sherrie, could take whatever retribution they were too afraid to take out on a cop out on her. She would present an easy target; a girl with no connections, whose friendships wouldn't even be able to help her once word got out that she was helping the police send them to jail. Darcy had promised his protection, but this meant putting more faith in him than the people she had grown up with.

Was it simply his good looks that had drawn her to him? The thrill of danger had definitely been a factor, she was aware enough to be able to admit that. For someone who spent her whole life avoiding the temptation of rebelling, she certainly had her moments of, as JJ put it, walking the line of trouble. Well, she officially took the plunge and jumped it, attaching herself to a stranger and a cop. Sure, he had a good motive. He wasn't there to bust them for minor drug crimes; he wasn't even taking down a gang full of drug dealers and criminals, he was targeting a murdering scumbag who apparently had a penchant for killing young women.

She thought about the women in Wickham's life now that she knew this about him. In the five or so years she had known him, he had never had a serious girlfriend; not exactly suspicious or unusual. As the head of a crew of car thieves and drug dealers, he was in a position of power, and there were plenty of girls who vied for the money and power that would come from being his girlfriend. None of them lasted long, even those who looked the other way when he cheated. But none of them had died, either. What proof did Darcy have that Wickham had killed before? She could ask him, she supposed, knowing full well he would show her whatever dirt he had on Wickham. Did she want to know all the particulars? Would she be able to be so calm and nonchalant in Wickham's presence knowing what he was capable of? For she would no doubt be thrown into his presence a lot more as the girlfriend of Will O'Mara.

That was a whole other issue. His attitude at school and in front of Ray and Sherrie was a perfect imitation of an attentive and caring boyfriend. She had been attracted to him since first seeing him a few days ago in the diner, something he commented on at the time and so must be fully aware of. Could she keep her head and remember that it was all an act, and the real Darcy was not this flirting, smiling, great kisser; the real Darcy was the scowling detective who would do anything to take Wickham down.

She caught sight of him emerging from her bedroom, rumpled and sleepy, carrying his shoes in one hand. Her heart sped as he walked towards her, rubbing his free hand through his hair. He's cute, she admitted to herself. But he isn't really Will, he's Darcy; Darcy, who looked you up and down and scoffed at your friendly greeting. Darcy, who tried to intimidate you to get information; Darcy, who, okay, won't let anything happen to you, but only because he has too much pride in his honor and integrity as a cop to put a civilian in danger.

"Thanks for the rest." He voice rumbled, deep from just waking up. He sat next to her on the couch, close enough that their legs touched. She muted the TV, not even aware of what program she was watching. "When does Charlotte get home?"

It was a perfect excuse to get him to leave; she could tell him Charlotte would be home any minute and that he better not be here before they had a chance to talk. She was jumbled with her thoughts and his appearance and she needed time to sort it all out, to be able to compartmentalize. She hadn't had too many relationships in her life, and she was finding it hard to separate Darcy the Detective from Will the Boyfriend. If, for her own dignity, she didn't want to flush every time he touched her casually, she needed to be able to turn the roles on and off as easily as he did; to be Lizzy the informant one minute and Lizzy the girlfriend the next. For that she needed practice, but time as well. To get things straight in her head of how this would work.

"Um." She glanced at her watch. It was half past ten, hours before Charlotte would be home. "Pretty soon, actually."

"I should get going." He said, yawning. He bent down to slip on his sneakers and tie his shoes. "We have class tomorrow at eight, I'll pick you up around seven thirty, okay?" He stood, stretching his arms above his head. She glanced at the thin exposure of his stomach, then hurriedly stood as well. This is what she had to get over, but not while he was around, looking so adorably rumpled.

"Ok, Text me when you pull up and I'll come down." She followed him to the door.

He turned back just as he was stepping out, reaching around the corner to pick up his backpack. She was glad he remembered it. "Don't forget to text me tonight after your talk with Charlotte." He reminded her.

"I know." She rolled her eyes at his commanding way. "I remember."

Her exasperated made his mouth pull up in a half smile for some reason, and then he was gone.

Lizzy sat back down on the couch to have a stern conversation with herself. She needed to separate the fake Will from the real Darcy before she made a fool out of herself and started liking the detective. The problem, as she saw it, was that she barely knew Darcy and was seeing him only as his fake persona. She knew he wasn't this easygoing car mechanic that had no priories other than getting a job and doting on her. He was an ornery police detective in a very real and very dangerous situation of taking down a drug dealing murderer by pretending to work for him to get close. Anytime he smiled at her, flirted with her, or put his arm around her, he was doing what he had to do to take Wickham down. She just needed to remember that.

For her dignity, she had to be able to turn off the girlfriend mode as easily as he switched from Will to Darcy. For that to work, she had to think of him as Darcy the detective playing a role whenever they were together. So what if she enjoyed the attention? Just as long as she didn't let it get out of hand, she would be fine. Happy she had gotten that settled, she unmuted the TV to waste time until Charlotte got home.

A few hours later, her roommate walked through the door.

"You're up late" Charlotte commented, turning to lock the door behind her.

"I thought we should talk." Lizzy turned off the tv.

"About your new boyfriend?" Charlotte questioned, dropping her things off on the counter before sinking into the broken recliner.

"Yeah." Lizzy hesitate, having rehearsed what she was going to say and how she would respond to what she assumed Charlotte was going to say. "You remember Darcy, that detective who was trying to find Ray?"

"Detective Adonis? How could I forget?" Charlotte teased back with a tired smile.

"Well… look, I kind of vouched for him; like, I told Wickham he was a car mechanic I met at school." Lizzy blurted out. Charlotte looked stunned, but didn't say anything yet. "I know it was stupid, but I kind of had no choice and Wickham's such a sleaseball that I…"

"Wait." Charlotte interrupted her. "You're serious?"

Lizzy winced, but nodded.

"Oh, my God. I thought you were going to tell me you hooked up with him, or something, and told everyone you were dating a dealer so no one would know you were really dating a cop." Charlotte told her, putting a hand on her forehead. "I was so not prepared for this."

"I'm sorry." Lizzy replied. "And look, I know how stupid and dangerous this is-"

"Do you?" Charlotte asked, somber. "Remember a few years back when JJ found out Anthony was talking to the cops?" Lizzy had forgotten until this moment, actually, but Charlotte kept talking despite her nod. "The whole gang beat the crap out of him. He lost an eye. He's lucky they didn't kill him, and no one has seen him since."

"I remember." Lizzy replied, feeling vaguely ill. "But this isn't JJ."

"No. It's Wickham, who according to the detective has only killed women before, so he's going to have a blast killing you." Charlotte said.

"Charlotte, Jesus." Lizzy replied.

"Well what did you think would happen when everyone finds out? Because believe me, everyone always finds out." Charlotte told her.

"He said he had a plan for that." Lizzy replied weakly.

"Lizzy, if anyone finds out you helped a cop infiltrate Wickham's gang to take him down and lose all those people their jobs and money… I mean for God's sake what's Ray going to do?" Charlotte asked.

"Look he's only interested in getting Wickham for these murders; Ray will probably take over once Wickham's gone. And there's a good chance no one will know I was involved at all." Lizzy replied, finally gaining some traction.

"Oh yeah, so everything will work out perfectly for everyone involved and nothing bad is going to happen, huh? " Charlotte shook her head. "Nothing good ever comes from helping the cops. If even one person has doubt, you'll be in danger, and not everyone in the neighborhood is a fan of yours."

"I know that, thanks." Lizzy sighed back. "Listen, what's done is done. I just need to know if you'll keep this a secret."

"You want me to lie to everyone too?" Charlotte asked, disbelievingly.

"No, just don't go running around telling everyone that Will is a cop." Lizzy replied. Charlotte was silent for a long time.

"Did you call that university?" she asked suddenly.

"What?" Lizzy questioned back. "Not yet."

"Call them back, set up an appointment to talk to them about scholarships and how much it will cover." Charlotte instructed her.

"O…kay. Why?" Lizzy questioned.

"Because if you are going to be doing things that are messing your life up, then you are going to counteract these things with something that can get you out of this neighborhood and somewhere where you belong." Charlotte replied.

"So, you're saying you'll keep the secret of Will being a cop if I go meet with these people?" Lizzy clarified.

"Right. And when this comes out that he's a cop, you never told me his true identity. I will be as shocked and disappointed in you as everyone else." Charlotte replied.

"Well. Okay that's fair." Lizzy shrugged.

"And make an effort to impress these college people, or the deals off." Charlotte pointed a finger at her.

"Okay." Lizzy threw her hands up in a placating manor.

"Well, if that's all the shocking news you have, I'm going to bed." Charlotte sighed, standing up.

"That's it." Lizzy swore. "Hey, that cook of yours is pretty cute."

Charlotte gave her an incredulous look before turning around and heading to her room, muttering something to herself that sounded suspiciously like "lost her damn mind."

Lizzy smiled, then pulled her cell phone out of her pocket.

'_You didn't really make a good impression on Char, but she's willing to give you a chance.'_ She texted to Will. She waited a few minutes, turning her phone over in her hand until it vibrated with a new message.

_Must have taken some convincing on your part. Thanks, sweetheart. See you in the AM._

She had a goofy grin on her face, but she found she didn't care.


	6. Chapter 6

**Recap of Previous Chapter**: Will drops Lizzy off at Charlotte's diner after school. After helping Charlotte out with a lunch rush and hinting about some news they need talk about, Will picks her up again a little bit later and they head back to her place. Soon after, Ray and Sherrie stop by. They mention that Wickham suggested the impromptu visit because Ray has a package for Will, most likely the drugs he promised to sell at the school. They all agree to go out together for a meal, during which Sherrie continues to flirt with Will, who continues to discourage her. He and Ray bond over the meal, after which Lizzy drives them back to her apartment where he sleeps off the alcohol he's drunk. She has time to think about their fake relationship while he sleeps, and decides to come up with a plan to not be so affected by his feign interest in her. When he wakes up she lies and tells him Charlottes on her way home and that she needs to be alone to tell her the truth about Will, since Charlotte is the only one who has seen Will when he was a detective looking for Ray. He argues about the merits of telling her the truth, but ultimately agrees there's no other choice and leaves. In the hours before Charlotte really comes home, Lizzy comes up with a strategy to keep her heart protected from being tricked into thinking Will's pretend love for her is real affection. She models her behavior after him, having a Lizzy the girlfriend persona to match Will and a Lizzy the informant persona to match Darcy. When Charlotte finally arrives home, Lizzy tells her what she's done. After Charlotte tells her the danger she's in and suggests she find a way out of it, she eventually aggress to keep the secret if Lizzy meets with the University. Lizzy agrees.

_Charlotte gave her an incredulous look before turning around and heading to her room, muttering something to herself that sounded suspiciously like "lost her mind."_

_Lizzy smiled, then pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. _

'You didn't really make a good impression on Char, but she's willing to give you a chance._' She texted to Will. She waited a few minutes, turning her phone over in her hand until it vibrated with a new message. _

Must have taken some convincing on your part. Thanks, sweetheart. See you in the AM.

_She had a goofy grin on her face, but she found she didn't care._

* * *

The next few days, Lizzy and Will established a schedule. After he picked her up at home in the morning they would either go to class or, depending on the day, Charlotte's diner for breakfast and then class. Afterwards, he would meet up with Ray or Wickham for some face time. Sometimes she joined him and sometimes she didn't; despite agreeing to do what she could to help take down Wickham, she didn't like spending that much time in the psychopath's presence. Will was understanding, and to compensate she made all the effort of making sure he and Ray got along.

When the weekend rolled around, she let him know she would be spending it out of town, and that he would be on his own for a few days.

"Where are you headed, anyway?" he asked from the living room as she packed an overnight bag full of clothes late Friday night.

"My mother's place." Lizzy answered unenthusiastically. "I usually spend the weekend before school starts but she and my step-dad were on a cruise at the time."

"That should be fun." He called back, a kind of questioning tone in his voice. She smiled as she zipped up her overnight bag.

"Fun." She repeated, joining him in the living room where he was lounging on her couch drinking a beer. "Right. A weekend full of her trying to convince me to move in with her while I finish school, or take me shopping because my clothes are all 'rags', or set me up with one of the guys my step-dad works with." She sighed as she sat down next to him, taking the proffered beer he had waiting for her. He shrugged, and she was sure he was trying to come up with something diplomatic to say. "I'll get to see my sister Jane, though and I'm happy about that."

"You two are close?" he asked, clearly happy to have the conversation shift.

"She and Charlotte are my best friends. I haven't seen her much lately, she's been dating this guy she's really into. She said she'd stay over this weekend too, though, so that should take some pressure off." Lizzy replied.

"So, you lived with your dad, but she lived with your mom?" Will hedged, clearly curious but wary of overstepping.

"That's right." She shrugged casually to let him know she didn't mind his line of questioning. "They got divorced when I was two, and I moved back in with my father when I was about five, but Jane stayed with mom. We saw each other on the weekends and holidays and stuff like that but I mostly lived with my dad and she mostly lived with my mom and our half-sisters"

"Why didn't she move back in with your father as well?" Will wondered. Lizzy took a drink of her beer.

"I was the bad kid and Jane was the angel." Lizzy said simply. "My dad was really the only one who could get me under control, so I moved in with him about the time my mom remarried."

"That must have been rough." Will glanced at her, sympathy clearly written on his face. She shrugged again

"I guess it sounds like my mom shipped me off, but it was really a better situation. I love my mom but, we butted heads too often. I was more like my father, I guess. I missed Jane most of all, but we saw each other regularly and spoke all the time, so…" Lizzy trailed off, remembering. "Anyway, this isn't a good neighborhood for Jane. She wouldn't have fit in here."

"She's not like you, then?" Will asked. Lizzy thought a moment about what the question meant before shaking her head and smiling.

"Picture my opposite. I mean opposite as far as looks as well as personality." She paused a moment so he could do just that before continuing "She's tall, blonde, blue-eyed and genuinely thinks well of everyone she meets." Lizzy described her sister affectionately.

"I can see why you would like to keep her out of this neighborhood then." Will commented. Lizzy hated the way he was always taking shots at her hometown, but had to admit that's exactly why she was glad Jane stayed at their mom's upper class suburban neighborhood.

"So what about you, any siblings?" Lizzy redirected the conversation, aware that this was a perfect opportunity to learn more about the mysterious detective.

"A sister. She's about eighteen." was all Will said in response, tearing at the label on his beer.

"Big age gap." She replied, testing his mood. He was usually tight lipped at the best of times, but was he short now because that was his nature or did he not want to talk about his sister for whatever reason?

"Yeah. I was also close with my cousin growing up. We went to different schools, but spent the summers together." He added, clearly more comfortable talking about his cousin than his sister. She wondered if he was hesitant to tell her personal details about himself for fear of her turning against him and using the information to harm him in some way. Part of her was indigent at this thought, for all she was risking for his sake, but she had to be honest and admit that part of her understood where he was coming from. If she were in his shoes, she wouldn't tell anyone about Jane.

"So what are your big plans for your weekend alone?" she asked with a smile, steering the subject into safer waters. He took in and let out a deep breath, stretching a bit.

"I hadn't thought that far ahead. I'll try to hook up with Wickham, I guess. Maybe Ray if he's in the mood." He replied, taking a sip from his beer.

Will left shortly after that. She promised to text him Sunday night to let him know she got back home okay, and he promised to pick her up on Monday morning for school.

* * *

Saturday morning she was on the earliest bus out of town. It took a few hours and a few stops, but she eventually made it to her sister's place at around eight.

"Lizzy!" Jane opened the door enthusiastically, hugging her tightly. Lizzy smiled and hugged her elder sister back just as tight. "It's so good to see you. I love your hair!" For her mother's sake, Lizzy had gotten it trimmed and styled. At the moment she had pulled some of it back into a clip to keep it out of her eyes. She was sure it was half a mess from the early morning and travel, but thanked her sister nonetheless. "Come in, come in."

"Thanks. I tossed my bag in your car already. You really shouldn't leave it unlocked when it's on the street like that." Lizzy scolded her lightly.

"Oh I know. Charles is always on me about that." Jane tsked at herself, leading Lizzy into her brightly lit living room.

"You look great Jane." Lizzy commented. She was wearing a long sleeve white top and jeans, but Jane had a way of taking t-shirts and jeans and turning them into elegant attire.

"Oh thanks." Jane smiled demurely. "Lizzy, I want you to meet –"

"Faucet's fixed." A man with short red hair and a big smile came out of the kitchen, rubbing his hands with a dish towel.

"Thanks Charles. Charles, this is my sister Lizzy. Lizzy, Charles." Jane introduced them with a happy smile on her face. Lizzy remembered being told about Charles a few months back. He was the guy Jane was currently head over heels for, which she gleaned from her knowledge of Jane-speak when she told Lizzy 'He's really nice' and 'We have a great time together'.

"Ah Lizzy! It's so great to finally meet you; Jane talks about you all the time." Charles came forward and offered her his newly cleaned hand. Lizzy took it with a smile.

"It's good to meet you too." Lizzy replied with a friendly smile, sizing him up. He was dressed in khaki's and a colored blue shirt that showed off his bright blue eyes. His cheeks were splashed with freckles, and he was only a few inches taler than Jane. They both had the same big, open smiles on their faces, especially when looking at each other. _These two would have adorable kids_, Lizzy thought with a smile.

"Well, I know you two want to hit the road soon, so I'll get out of your hair. But the three of us have to get together for dinner soon." Charles said as he gathered his coat and gloves.

"That sounds fun." Lizzy replied, interested in getting to spend more time with him.

"Great." He smiled once more, clearly happy at the prospect. He wants to get to know her family? That's definitely a point for him in Lizzy's book. "Well. Have a fun weekend. Call me when you get in so I know you got there safe."

"I will." Jane promised with a smile, leaning up to give him a quick kiss. "Thanks again for fixing the faucet."

"It was no problem." He grinned back at her. Lizzy stifled a laugh at the way the two were goofily smiling at each other like love struck fools. "Well, bye then." And then he was gone.

"So." Lizzy turned to her sister with a teasing smile.

"Oh I know." Jane covered her cheeks. "I'm a grinning idiot." Lizzy laughed and Jane joined in.

"It's not a bad thing." Lizzy told her, happy to see Jane so happy. "Charles seems like a nice guy."

"He is." Jane said earnestly. "He really is."

"Come on, tell me all about it on the ride to mom's." Lizzy said, taking Jane's overnight bag by the door on the way out.

Jane took Lizzy up on her offer ad spent most of the ride to their mothers house gushing about how great Charles was and how happy they were and how much she looked forward to Lizzy getting to know him too.

"Well he sounds a lot better than your last boyfriend, that's for sure." Lizzy teased.

"Oh, Tommy. Poor Tommy." Jane frowned at the reminder.

"Poor Tommy!" Lizzy barked out a laugh. "Jane, you are too sweet"

"Well, I did feel bad having to break up with him right after that misunderstanding at his job. " Jane replied.

"Misunderstanding? Jane, the guy got caught embezzling. He was lucky he didn't go to jail." Lizzy rolled her eyes.

"Here I am talking your ear off and we're almost to moms. How are you doing?" Jane asked her, expertly changing the subject.

"Alright. I'm finishing up community college this semester and I just have to figure out where I want to go for undergraduate school." Lizzy replied with the familiar story.

"Have you narrowed it down yet?" Jane wondered.

"I have an interview with State about a scholarship opportunity." Lizzy replied, leaving out the part about Charlotte's ultimatum if she didn't go to the meeting. "If I get a full ride, I'll probably go there." Lizzy replied.

"That's great!" Jane answered, far more enthusiastic about it than Lizzy was. "What's your major going to be?"

Lizzy groaned. "I don't know yet. I don't know what I want to do."

"I still think you'd be a great teacher. You tutored all those kids all the time and you were great at adapting your style to their needs." Jane offered.

"Yeah. I guess it wouldn't be terrible. I just wished there was something I loved; Charlotte works at the dinar almost 24/7, and she still loves getting up every day. You are working your butt off at the hospital, and you still love it. I want something like that." Lizzy bemoaned, not for the first time.

"I know you do. I wish you knew what you loved as well. Your dream job is out there, you just haven't found it yet." Jane replied sympathetically.

Shortly thereafter, they pulled up to their mothers house. Lizzy felt tired already, but she valiantly followed Jane to the front door, a smile strategically placed on her face. Before either of them could ring the bell, the door flew open and both were caught up in the whirlwind that was their mother. She managed to hug both of them tightly while also pulling them into the house. Their bags were then pulled out of their hands and tossed to the side so Francis Young could size her girls up. Jane was deemed beautiful and perfect; Lizzy was told her hair looked very nice for once, but those cloths! They would have to find time this weekend to all go shopping, and wouldn't that be nice? After being pulled into another hug while simultaneously being scolded for not coming by to see her mother often enough, Lizzy managed to rolled her eyes at Jane, whose face only held an affectionate amusement.

Soon there was the sound of feet pounding own the stairs and Lizzy, Jane and their mother were joined by Lizzy and Jane's half-sisters. The four girls exchanged hugs and greetings while their mother exclaimed over finally having her children all together again. Lizzy reminded her that they had all been together just two short months ago for the holidays, but she was ignored.

"Well whose hungry? Come on to the dining room girls, your father should be finished making brunch by now." Franny ushered all of them through the living room and into the dining room. The table was already set and had two salad bowls, chips, cinnamon rolls, bacon, oatmeal in one of those warming bowls, and a platter of varied sandwiches cut into little triangles. Henry was a chef and owned three restaurants, and Franny loved to overdo it with the meals when they were together. To be honest, this was tame considering the last time they had lunch together, Henry had made steamed buns with barbeque pork filling, little goat cheese puffs, prosciutto wrapped asparagus, homemade éclairs and chocolate crepes.

"All done." Henry Young, Lydia and Catherine's father, emerged from the kitchen holding a platter of waffles and omelets. He sat it on the table in the middle while Lydia and Catherine took their seats and then gave Jane and Lizzy hugs, telling them he was glad they could make it for the weekend. Lizzy like Henry, and had never resented him for taking her father's place in her mother's heart. To be honest, she couldn't believe her parents had ever been married in the first place; Henry and Franny were much better suited for each other.

"Dig in everyone." Henry gestured to the table and the next few minutes were filled with the sounds of plates shuffling and 'Hey pass me that' and 'oh my God, Henry this tastes amazing'. Once everyone had their plates full, questions were thrown around the table in order to be updated in each other's lives. Lizzy asked Cat, who was a semester into her first year at college, about her classes and how she was liking campus life. Cat excitedly told her about the friends she was making and how she was thinking about taking a dorm next year, if she could convince their mother. Lydia teased her about not taking advantage of the benefits of being in college by going to any parties yet but Lizzy couldn't help but congratulate her sister on focusing on her studies. Cat beamed at the praise from her older sister while Lydia rolled her eyes.

Lizzy knew the praise was probably unexpected; Lizzy herself had always been the laid back older sister while Jane had always been the responsible one. Whenever Lizzy came into town she took them out of school for a fun day of goofing off, thinking that the advantage of bonding with her sisters far outweighed whatever they would be learning in school that day. She took them to scary movies, let them drive early and generally played the role of cool older sister. Now that she had gotten her priorities straight, Lizzy was glad to see Cat was maturing out of her and Lydia's bad influence and commented on how great the college life seemed to be treating her. Cat was always more like Jane anyway, afraid of getting into trouble rather that excited by the thrill of breaking the rules. Unfortunately, Lydia had always been more like Lizzy and she feared her bad influence had only made her youngest sister worse. She hoped she could undo her careless example and persuade her sister that letting loose every once in a while was fine, but she was getting older and thinking about her future had to take priority.

Lydia was due to start this year but convinced her parents she needed a year off of school to gain some life experience before starting college. Secretly Lizzy agreed, but she worried that Lydia would like the free life too much and would not see the benefit of getting a degree. Lizzy knew the mentality well; she felt she wasted too many years on 'life experience' and had often wished she could go back and go right from high school to college. She thought the years would give her time to figure out what she wanted to do with her life, but she was twenty-six and still clueless. She knew she appreciated college now more than she would have at eighteen, but she still wished she could go back and do it over again. After her father had died, she decided to be clueless but at least on her way to a degree. She still may not know what she wanted to do with her life, but at least she would have a bachelor's.

Franny had been grilling Jane almost the whole meal, mostly about her new boyfriend and how serious it was. Jane was looking uncomfortable from the long interrogation, so Lizzy attempted to sway her mother's attention.

"Oh mom, I forgot to tell you, I started seeing someone too." Lizzy chimed in. To say everyone gasped and dropped their silverware in shock was perhaps a bit of an overstatement, but Lizzy still didn't appreciate the raised eyebrows from her two younger sisters, nor the way her mother was left speechless for a minute. It was well worth it for the grateful look Jane sent her.

"Well that's wonderful! Who is he?" Francis asked, honing in on her like a tractor beam.

"He's… a guy from my school." Lizzy replied, once more thinking of what an idiot she was. Why could she not think before she spoke? He was an undercover cop trying to take down a murdering drug dealer. Oh yeah, and they weren't really dating. Still, she guessed if anyone had the means or inclination to ask her family if she were dating anyone, it would be good that she told them.

"Well that's certainly a nice change!" Francis smiled. "What's he like?"

"He's…" He scowls at me all the time. He's quiet, unless he's bossing me around. He's super hot and seems to know it, but luckily not in a sleazy way. Lizzy mentally shook her head, then thought of Will, not Darcy. "He's smart. Nice. Funny. You know, all that good boyfriend material."

"And what is he in school for?" Francis wanted to know.

"He's a mechanic." Lizzy replied.

"Oh." Her mother looked disappointed, but that didn't stop her from asking Lizzy a dozen more questions until finally Lydia interrupted her.

"Mom, are we going shopping or what?" her sister asked.

"Oh yes!" her mother exclaimed, standing up. "We better leave soon if we want enough time this afternoon." Lizzy thanked God for the interruption until Lydia caught her eye and winked; at which point she sent her sister wide smile and a grateful nod.

The rest of the afternoon was spent shopping. Their mother dragged them all to almost every clothing store in the mall so that by the end of it Lizzy was laden down with numerous bags and exhausted. They managed to make it home in time for another one of Henry's gourmet meals, during which Franny went over everything they had bought and who they had bought it for. Lizzy was grateful for the new clothes despite the harrowing experience of shopping with her mother and three sisters.

As early in the evening as it was, all she wanted to do was go to bed after dinner. She headed up to the guest room to unpack with Jane.

"We should have bought a suitcase for all these new clothes to take home." Lizzy teased, pulling out new clothes and old and hanging them up in the closet.

"Poor mom. She does seem to get so happy from buying us new clothes." Jane smiled.

"Could be worse." Lizzy shrugged. "She does make it easy to make her happy. Come home once in a while to eat gourmet food and go shopping for a new wardrobe. Once in a while tell her about a new boyfriend."

"Speaking of that." Jane pointed at her with a shirt she just pulled out of her overnight bag. "You let me go on and on about Charles on the way her and you didn't think to tell me you were also dating someone?"

"We just started dating." Lizzy defended. "It seemed so unimportant next to Mr. Perfect."

"He's not Mr. Perfect." Jane argued, then smiled. "So tell me about him"

"He's everything I said. Quiet, smart, funny. A mechanic." Lizzy said, feeling guilty for not tell her the truth.

"Cute?" Jane hedged.

"Very cute." Lizzy smiled.

"Who's cute?" Lydia asked, walking into the room she and Jane were sharing, Cat on her heels.

"Lizzy's new boyfriend." Jane smiled at her sister.

"Really? How cute?" Lydia sounded interested.

"Pretty cute." Lizzy shrugged.

"Wait, pretty as in pretty _boy_ cute, or pretty as in slightly cute." Lydia wanted to know.

"He is _not_ a pretty boy." Lizzy shook her head. "And he's not slightly cute, he's _very_ cute."

Lizzy caved and pulled out her phone, on which she had taken a picture of Will. He was sitting forward on her couch with a beer in his hands, his sleeves pushed up to his elbows. He was kind of scowling, because she sprung the picture on him at the last minute, and he was arguing against her point, that she should have a picture of her boyfriend in her phone. It was still a good picture of him, in her opinion. Her sisters all crowded around her phone to see him; Lydia immediately wolf-whistled while Jane and Cat simply commented on how handsome he was. Lizzy felt a guilty sort of pride, but didn't dwell too much on the scruples of being pleased at the approval of her sisters for her fake boyfriend.

The conversation stayed on Will for a while, but they generally gotten an earful during dinner, so it wasn't long before Jane and Lizzy were asking Cat and Lydia about their respective love lives. Cat admitted to liking a boy from her biology class, but said it hadn't progressed passed running into each other in the cafeteria and having lunch one day. Lizzy and Jane gave her encouragement while Lydia suggested she not wait and ask him out instead. Cat replied that she didn't want to seem too forward, but her sisters knew she just wasn't bold enough to ask a guy out.

"What about you Lydia?" Lizzy asked as Jane yawned deeply. "Any interesting guys?"

"I just broke up with Carter." Lydia replied. Jane and Lizzy offered their sympathies but Lydia waved them off, clearly not upset about it. "Things were getting so stale. Plus he's all into college and I could see it wouldn't be long before he dumped me for some girl he meets there, or cheats on me with one."

"He was so bland anyway, not your type at all." Lizzy replied.

"I know, right?" Lydia grinned.

"Well, I'm beat." Jane said, yawning once more. "I think I'll hit the hay. Night girls."

"What?" Lydia exclaimed, shocked. "It's so early. I thought we could all go out tonight."

"Sorry, not tonight. I had to work a twelve hours to get this weekend off and I'm exhausted." Jane shook her head, already pulling out a pair of pajamas and heading to the bathroom.

"What about you guys?" Lydia turned to Cat and Lizzy.

"I have to work on a speech for public speaking." Cat shook her head as well. "I have to do a lot of research, I haven't even started it. Sorry Lydia. Night Lizzy." She added, heading to her room.

"Lizzy? Please tell me you, at least, aren't going to crap out on me on Saturday night." Lydia said, hands on her hips. Lizzy winced, wanting nothing more than to say all she wanted was, as Jane had put it, to hit the hay.

"What did you have in mind?" she hedged.

Lydia checked over her shoulder to assure they wouldn't be overheard. "Let's head into the city and go to a club." she wiggled her eyebrows and did a little dance.

"Are you kidding me? I just came from the city." Lizzy rolled her eyes.

"I know, so you'll know the best clubs to go to." Lydia grinned.

"You got a car?" Lizzy raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, duh. Who doesn't have a car?" Lydia laughed. Lizzy scowled at her, forgoing the argument of it not meaning much when her wealthy parents bought it outright for her.

"Fine. What about money for gas and drinks?" Lizzy countered.

Lydia rolled her eyes, walked to the edge of the stairs. "Hey mom, Lizzy and I want to go out. Can we have some money for the movies and gas and food and stuff?"

"Of course!" was their mother's immediate reply. "I love seeing you girls have fun together. Check my purse, I should have enough cash in there."

"That's just wrong. Maybe I _should_ move back home." Lizzy shook her head while Lydia grinned at her.

"Let's get dressed!" Lydia replied excitedly. Lizzy sighed, resigned.

She picked out one of her new outfits and headed to Lydia's room, passing Jane in the hallway and letting her knew she and Lydia were going out and not to wait up. Jane smiled at her sympathetically and promised to let her sleep in as long as possible tomorrow morning.

"You know all these clubs card at the door." Lizzy pointed out as they got ready together.

"Please." Lydia rolled her eyes, pulling a card out of her dresser drawer. Lizzy took it, looking it over. It looked just like a real license, right down to Lydia's real birthday, minus a few years so that instead of eighteen she was now twenty-one.

"Wow." Lizzy commented, impressed. "Where did you get this?"

"See, that's why I love you Lizzy." Lydia smiled. "Jane would have already been starting on the lecture of the dangers of underage drinking and Cat would have been wining about how much trouble we could get into with fake IDs but you are just _cool_."

Lizzy frowned, wondering what that said about her. "You know, underage drinking can be really dangerous-"

"No, Jesus, please spare me." Lydia waved her off. "I meant that as a compliment. I'm just saying you remember what it's like to be eighteen, done with school and ready for some real life experiences." Lizzy shrugged, feeling like her vow to be a better role model was failing miserably.

After taking the time to get ready, including telling Lydia to tone down the makeup and talking her into far more comfortable shoes than she planned on wearing, the sisters collected the proffered cash from their mother and hit the road. Lydia opted for a tight black skirt over black leggings and boots. In contrast, her white top was loose and showed off different patches of skin, depending on how it was sitting at the moment. Lizzy was trying out her new black tube dress. Sh felt it went nicely with her tanned skin and dark hair, but only came down to her knees so her legs would be freezing while they were outside.

Lydia drove, immediately blaring Sean Paul's 'Get Busy' on her iPod. Lizzy laughed, surprised that despite her fatigue and misgivings on taking her baby sister into the big bad city, she was looking forward to the evening. Things may have been easier when they were younger and all she had to do was take her sister to a movie or out for ice cream, but Lizzy was looking forward to being friends with her youngest sister. She couldn't deny the truth of what Lydia was alluding to earlier; Jane and Cat were the sweet, honest sisters and she and Lydia were the thrill seeking rule breakers. She knew from experience that nothing besides Lydia would be able to change Lydia's mind, and so she did her best to at least be there and teach her how to be safe in these unsafe environments.

It was close to eleven once they reached the city. Lizzy directed her to one of the more well-known clubs in the city. It was pretty far from the both the Families territory and Wickham's, so it had the benefit of being a good chance she wouldn't run into anyone she knew. Besides that, she knew the DJ and could get them in easily. Lydia was impressed at getting to skip everyone in line to be waved through and excitedly headed to the bar for her first drink. Lizzy caught up with DJ Lance and greeted him, thanking him for putting her on the list and asking him how things were going for him. He was a great DJ and rumor had it there was a label that was thinking about picking him up. He confirmed the rumors were true, but seemed to be keeping a level head about it. He let her know that he wasn't counting on anything until it was time to sign the papers. They spent some time getting caught up before it was his time to play and she wished him luck then went off to find her sister.

"Lizzy. This place is awesome." Lydia gushed at her, sipping her drink. Lizzy couldn't help but see the little girl in her face and wondered, not for the first time, if she was right to bring her here. Suddenly, she seemed so young.

"Come on, let me get a drink." Lizzy said, pulling her sister back to the bar. They hung around the bar drinking until DJ Lance started his set. Lydia's mood improved further when a few guys hit on them at the bar, but followed her elder's sister example by being friendly, but distant. They sisters finished their drinks and went out to dance for a while.

The rest of the night followed the pattern of drinking and dancing until it was last call. Lizzy and Lydia were both pretty drunk, so Lizzy called a cab for them, directing them to her apartment. She figured they would get up early and pick Lydia's car up before heading home for brunch. Before she forgot, she called Jane up, hoping to get her machine and not actually wake her up. She said goodbye to DJ Lance and led her sister out to hail a cab.

"Hey Jane." She said into the phone. "Lydia and I are…" she trailed off as Lydia practically collapsed onto her and she had to catch her before she fell down. "Jesus." She said, surprised at the assault and dropping her phone in the process.

"Tired." Lydia mumbled.

"We're going home, I just have to get a cab." Lizzy replied, bending down to pick up the phone while still trying to keep Lydia upright. She sighed again, hoping the message was still recording.

"Jane, I need you to…" She saw a cab approaching and tried to signal it while keeping a hold of her phone and her sister. "Lydia _help_." She said, exasperated. Lydia hugged her, mumbling an apology about not being able to drive. Lizzy sighed but did manage to get a hand free and waved the cab down.

"We won't be home until tomorrow afternoon." Lizzy said, hearing the long beep that signaled the message had been cut off somewhere in the middle of her last sentence. She pushed her sister into the cab, giving the man her address and debated whether to risk waking Jane by calling again. She sighed, leaning back against the seat and realizing she was drunker than she originally thought. They were at her apartment in no time, and she had to figure out where Lydia was stashing her money to pay the cab then, practically carry her up the three flights of stairs to her apartment.

"Keep quiet, so we don't wake up Charlotte." Lizzy warmed, whispering in the loud way only drunk people managed to do as they finally made it through the door. Lizzy directed her trashed sister down the hall to her own room. Lydia sank gratefully into Lizzy's bed, moaning loudly with satisfaction. Lizzy shushed her, almost making more noise in trying to quiet her than she was making in the first place, then giggled at that realization.

"I'm hungry." Lydia wined.

"No, you're drunk." Lizzy assured her. They both giggled. Lizzy pulled her sister's shoes off and took the pins out of her hair. She managed to make it to the kitchen and come back with a glass of water and some Advil, which she gave to her sister. She told Lydia where the bathroom was, made her promise to try and not wake up her roommate, then left her to sleep.

"I had fun tonight Liz." Lydia murmured sleepily.

"Me too." Lizzy smiled.

"I made out with some guy." Lydia confessed.

"I saw that." Lizzy couldn't help but laugh, and Lydia joined in. "Good night." She closed the door behind her, getting her own glass of water and taking Advil before finally passing out on the couch.

Lizzy woke up the next morning with her head pounding. She groaned, putting her arm over her eyes and willing the pounding to go away. She wasn't sure how much time had passed until she finally realized it wasn't her head, though there was plenty of pounding going on there as well; someone was pounding on the door.

"Open up." A muffled voice commanded. With great effort, Lizzy pulled herself from the couch, unlatched the chain and flipped the deadbolt. Before she could turn the knob, Will burst through the door.

"Hey." She said relieved to see it was just him. "How did you know I was home?" she wondered, heading back to the couch to pass out again.

"I figured I'd check." he said staring at her. "Is your sister here too?" Will asked.

"Lydia? Yeah she's in my room. Why?" she asked, burying her face into the couch cushion and not really caring about the answer. She needed to sleep about ten more hours. Will didn't reply, but headed back to Lizzy rooms to check and see that Lydia was indeed there. Satisfied, he came back to sit on the coffee table opposite Lizzy.

"Are you alright?" he asked, surprisingly gentle. She opened her eyes at his tone, curious. He looked relieved to see her and even reached out to smooth her hair back from her face to get a better look at her. She was sure she looked terrible after sleeping in her dress and makeup, but Will continued to stare.

"I'm hungover, but I have a feeling that's not what you mean." Lizzy replied, pulling herself up to give him a quizzical look. "What's going on?"

"Your family called the police this morning, saying you and your sister had gone missing." Will replied. Lizzy's jaw dropped. "My partner flagged anything that contains your name or mine, so he caught it pretty early and let me know. I've been there and back today looking for you. I came by earlier, but no one answered. I checked with the club you guys were at last night, and found your sisters car seemingly abandoned. After talking with the valets and security I learned you guys took a cab home. Finally, I stopped by the diner to talk to Charlotte who said she saw you sleeping on the couch this morning before she left for work, so I came back."

"I didn't hear you earlier, I guess." Lizzy pushed her hair back. "I can't believe Jane thought we were missing, I left her a message last night."

"I know. I heard it." Will replied with a frown.

"So why did everyone think we were missing?" Lizzy asked confused. Will pulled out his phone, pushing some buttons until Lizzy heard her own drunken message played back.

"Hey Jane. Lydia and I are…" there was a loud noise. Lizzy recognized it as her phone being dropped. There was static, then, "Jesus. Jane I need you to…" Once more her voice cut off until "Lydia _help_…. We won't" and then the message cut off. Lizzy winced at how bad the message sounded in light of day.

"I didn't realize it sounded like that." Lizzy explained lamely. The things Jane must have thought after hearing that terrible sounding message.

"You can imagine Jane's worry after waking up to hear that message, followed by the news that neither one of you had returned, combined with the fact that no one could get a hold of either you or Lydia." Will told her. Lizzy winced, feeling terrible. Will was being gentle, but Lizzy definitely felt his disapproval.

"I'll call her." Lizzy said, pulling out her phone from the couch cushion it had been lodged into. Lizzy now remembered attempting to set her alarm but falling asleep in the middle of it. She flinched at all the missed calls on her messages before speed dialing her elder sister. She spent the next ten minutes assuring Jane that she and Lydia were fine and apologizing profusely for making everyone worry. Once things had calmed down, she explained what had happened and how she would be bringing Lydia home once they picked her car up. Jane promised to try to calm their mother and step-father down in time for them to return home.

"What a night." Lizzy sighed, dropping the phone and rubbing her eyes. "I'm sorry I caused all this trouble."

"I'm just glad it was a false alarm." Will said, putting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing slightly. Lizzy looked up at him, giving a sheepish smile and feeling pleased by the relief in his eye. It may have been his job to keep her safe, but it didn't stop the flutter she felt in her chest at the clear signs of his care.

* * *

Authors Notes: Sorry for the delay. This chapter went a different way at first, but it didn't make sense so I decided to rewrite half of it. Once again, thank you for your generous reviews, and I will try to post again soon.


	7. Chapter 7

**Recap of Previous Chapter**: After their first week together, Lizzy tells Will she is going to spend the weekend at her mother's house. Early Saturday morning, she takes the bus to Jane's house where she meets, and approves of, Charles. She and Jane then head to their mother's house just in time for one of their step-father, Henry the gourmet chef's, meals. Her mother takes all the girls, Lizzy Jane, Catherine, and Lydia, shopping. Lydia convinces Lizzy to go out clubbing with her, and she reluctantly agrees. They get dressed up and head back into the city where Lizzy takes Lydia to a club she knows well. After a night of partying and drinking, the sisters decide to leave Lydia's car and take a cab back to Lizzy's apartment. Will shows up the next morning with the information that their family thinks they are missing, thanks in part to a distorted message Lizzy left Jane. Lizzy calls home to let them know they are fine and will be coming home soon.

"_What a night." Lizzy sighed, dropping the phone and rubbing her eyes. "I'm sorry I caused all this trouble."_

"_I'm just glad it was a false alarm." Will said, putting a hand on her shoulder. Lizzy looked up at him, giving a sheepish smile and feeling pleased by the relief in his eye. It may have been his job to keep her safe, but it didn't stop the flutter she felt in her chest at the clear signs of his care._

* * *

It took some convincing, but eventually Lydia was impelled to get out of bed. She wanted to shower and change, but Lizzy argued that there was no time.

"Please, like you're in such a hurry to be chewed out by mom and dad." Lydia scoffed, rummaging through Lizzy's near-empty refrigerator.

"Not really." Lizzy allowed. "But making them wait around isn't going to make it any better. Might as well get it over with."

"That doesn't make any sense." Lydia rolled her eyes. Lizzy was learning that her baby sister was ornery when coupled with a hangover and lack of sleep. "The longer we wait, the more time they have to cool off."

"Lydia." Lizzy took a breath, aware that Darcy was sitting on the couch in her very, very small apartment and listening to everything they were saying. "We screwed up. Jane, Cat, Mom, Henry – they were all really worried about us. We owe it to them to get home as soon as possible and-"

"Okay, okay, I don't need the guilt trip." Lydia threw her hands up and sighed, then screwed up her face in what Lizzy assumed was meant to be pleading. "Please just say we can stop and get some coffee."

"Deal. Grab your stuff and let's go. Will's going to give us a ride to your car." Lizzy replied. Lydia glanced at the stranger on her sister's couch, sizing him up curiously. She hadn't really given him much attention when Lizzy first introduced them, but to her credit her eyes were barely open and she was bemoaning the spinning room. Darcy must have felt their eyes on him, but he was as relaxed and cool as ever, casually flipping through his phone while he waited for them to be ready to go. Lizzy looked back at her sister and gave her a look. Lydia smirked back, but went into Lizzy's room to make sure nothing had been left behind.

Once they had everything, Lizzy led them down the block to a coffee shop where they girls both ordered large, strong cups of coffee for the road. Lydia was silently savoring the caffeine, but once they were in Darcy's car she perked up and started interrogating the new man in her sister's life.

"So how did you guys meet?" Lydia piped up suddenly from the back seat. Lizzy immediately clenched her jaw, knowing full well that Lydia was not ignorant on the story of how they met.

"School." Lizzy jumped in, saving Will the trouble. Her tone was finale, and she hope Lydia took the message.

"Duh." Lizzy couldn't see, but she had the feeling Lydia was rolling her eyes. "I didn't ask _where_."

"We were in math class." Will offered. Lizzy looked over and caught his eye. He gave her a little smirk, touched a hand briefly to her knee. "I gave her some line, but she put me right in my place." He brought his hand back to the wheel and his eye firmly on the road, but the sisters could still see the affectionate smile on his face.

"I bet not many girls turn you down." Lydia commented, encouraging the story.

"Not too many." He gave a little shrug. Lizzy hid a smile – one of the first things she could say for certain about him was that he was not a modest person. "Your sister wasn't shy about telling me exactly what she thought about me, though." Will paused at a red light, glanced to Lizzy.

"So you went for the challenge." Lydia remarked. Will gave another shrug, but this time was silent.

"So, when you asked her out…" Lydia prompted again, but Lizzy interrupted her.

"Lydia, knock off the third degree, okay?" Lizzy turned in her seat to give her sister a look.

"Don't be so defensive, Lizzy." Lydia smirked. "I just love a good origin story."

"I thought you were hungover." Lizzy quirked an eyebrow.

"The coffee's helping. I could go for a really greasy breakfast, though. Maybe we should stop on the way home." Lydia replied, a questioning tone in her voice.

"No. I'm sure Henry will have food ready." Lizzy replied, remembering she should probably text Jane to let them know they were on their way to pick up Lydia's car and head home from there. She pulled her phone out to do just that. Lydia was mercifully silent in the remaining time it took to get to the club and pick her car up. Will pulled up alongside it, and Lydia let out a heavy sigh.

"Thanks for the ride, Will." Lydia said, opening her door. "We should all hang out sometime."

"Sure." Will nodded, and then turned to Lizzy. "You want me to follow you and give you a ride back?"

"Uh…" Lizzy stalled, not having thought that far ahead. She usually came home with Jane, but then it was another bus ride home from there. She could salvage a lot of her Sunday if Darcy took her directly home. However, that would mean he would probably have to meet the whole family, a scenario she had never imagined. On the plus side, her mom might be so distracted by the new boyfriend that she would go easy on yelling at her about being out all night on the weekend they were supposed to be spending time together as a family, not to mention taking her baby girl into the city for a little underage drinking, not checking in all night, and making her think they were missing. Lizzy quickly calculated the pros and cons of Darcy's offer before realizing she was taking too long and just accepted.

"Sure. That would be great. If you're sure it's not too much trouble?" Lizzy squinted curiously.

"No trouble." He shook his head simply. Whether Darcy or Will, she realized he was never one to waste words.

"Ok then. Follow us." Lizzy directed, getting out to join Lydia in her car.

"We probably reek of alcohol." Lydia said as soon as Lizzy slide into the passenger seat. She furrowed her brow at the thought; after a pause both sisters simultaneously sniffed their clothing. They glanced at the other questioningly, then shrugged. Lydia started up the car and Lizzy guided her back to the highway, warning her to keep Will in sight behind them.

"He is even hotter in person." Lydia commented. "And that whole strong silent type he has going on just makes it better."

"Yeah." Lizzy couldn't help but agree. "He's definitely hot."

"He's sweet too. You can tell he really likes you." Lydia replied, checking her mirror as she changed lanes.

"You think so?" Lizzy replied with mild curiosity, because it was expected of her. She knew Darcy was good at pretending to be an interested boyfriend; the more practice he got the better at it he became. She also knew she wasn't as good, not yet being comfortably with easy affection; but she chalked that up to being intimidated by his good looks. The more they hang out, she was sure, they easy it would be for her as well.

"Are you kidding? The smile he gets and all the little touches? Oh yeah. He likes you big time." Lydia nodded enthusiastically. "We should do this more often." She added suddenly. Lizzy was adept at following her sisters train of thought, however.

"Yeah, sans the missing person calls to the police." Lizzy quipped.

"I'm serious; this has been like, the best time of my life. I should come up every weekend so we can party." Lydia replied excitedly with a little bounce.

"Every weekend? Talk about burn out." Lizzy shuddered at the thought. "Not to mention the damage to your liver. Plus, after this, do you really think mom and Henry are ever going to let you come hang out with me?"

"Psh." Lydia waved her hand in dismissal. "They'll get over it. Anyway, I'm eighteen."

"Maybe, but they own your car, the roof over your head, and the money in your pocket. They still have power." Lizzy reminded her, finishing the last dregs of coffee from the styrofoam container.

"Stop being such a downer." Lydia rolled her eyes. "You'll see, they won't be so bad."

Not long after, the sisters pulled into Lydia's driveway, Will pulling in seconds behind them. The three got out of their respected cars; Lydia and Lizzy taking a moment to stretch and take in the seemingly peaceful atmosphere.

"Well, I guess we should get this over with" Lydia shrugged with the laid back attitude of someone who had never faced a harsh punishment in her life. Lizzy was a bit more apprehensive, especially with the added stress of Darcy being caught in the middle. Nonetheless, she followed her younger sister to the front door and through it.

"Lydia! Oh my sweet precious baby girl!" Franny was immediately there, wrapping Lydia up in a giant hug. "We were sure you girls had been mugged and left dead in the street!"

"Mom, you're suffocating me." Lydia's muffled voice could barely be heard over their mother's elations that they were both alive. Jane and Cat came down at all the noise and greeted their sisters happily, if more tamely than their mother.

"Oh! Will! How nice it is to see you again." Franny, reaching for Lizzy to bring into the embrace, was momentarily distracted by the site of Will's six foot two frame in their doorway.

"You two know each other?" Lizzy gaped at her mother.

"He came by this morning when he heard you girls were missing. We are so grateful to you for bringing our girls home, Will." Franny smiled enthusiastically at Will. "Lizzy told us all about you, of course, but it's so nice to put a face with the picture. And my, what a handsome face!" Franny giggled. Will smiled politely while Lizzy's face burned in embarrassment.

"Well, come in come in. I'm sure the girls will want to change and relax a minute; would you like something to eat Will?" Franny had already calmed from her hysterics, and Lizzy started to relax, thinking that maybe Lydia was right in predicting no reprimand would be coming their way.

"Yes," Lydia replied, though the request had been directed to Will. "Please, I'm starving. I need to shower and change first."

"Just one minute, Lydia." Henry appeared suddenly; one look at the expression on his face and Lizzy was as apprehensive as ever. Even Lydia looked a little sheepish. "Franny, why don't you, Jane, and Catherine take our guest to get something to eat. I need to speak with the girls."

Franny agreed happily, leading Will into the dining room. Jane and Cat followed their mother, both giving sympathetic looks to their sisters on the way out. Henry led the girls the opposite way and into his study. He sat down behind a large desk, then folded his hands and stared into them to gather his thoughts. Lydia and Lizzy glanced at each other, both standing opposite him.

"First of all," he began finally looking up at Lydia. "You are grounded for two months."

"Two months?" Lydia repeated, mouth agape.

"Two months- no car, no shopping, no nothing." He confirmed calmly. For some reason, Lydia's harsh punished made Lizzy nervous. He had no control over her- so what would he do instead? Her thought ran wild, and she couldn't help but feel he was well within his rights to banish her from his house.

"Dad, I'm eighteen. If I want to go out all night, I can." Lydia replied with attitude; Lizzy would have warned her against it if there was time- she was only likely to push him to revoking more privileges.

"Lydia, your mother and I thought you and your sister were dead." He paused long enough that both Lydia and Lizzy squirmed in discomfort. "You certainly are eighteen years old and well within your rights to go to the club in the city with your sister if you want to; but while you still live at home, your mother and I deserve to know where you are. You are old enough now that you need to start thinking of how your actions can affect other people. A simple phone call could have avoided this whole mess- just as telling your mother the truth in the first place could have."

Lydia seemed to not be able to argue with this. "We meant to call." She finally said lamely.

"And I'm sure that if there is a next time, you will." Her father replied. "Go get changed."

Lydia glanced at her older sister, hesitating. "Dad, this wasn't Lizzy's-"

"Lydia, I need to talk to your sister alone. Go get changed." Henry said firmly. Lydia sighed, glanced at Lizzy one more time, then left.

Lizzy fidgeted as Henry collected his thoughts. It had been a long time since she felt she was facing a firing squad – it was a feeling she thought would have died with her father. Certainly no one could make her feel as bad as she did at his disappointment, but Henry was coming close.

"Now, Elizabeth, I can't imagine there's much I can say that you haven't already anticipated. Your actions last night were completely juvenile, and to be completely honest, I expected much more from you. I know you had your wild ways in your youth, but I had come to understand that that was all behind you, that you were getting your life back together."

Lizzy winced. "I am. I'm sorry, Henry. I don't know what else I can say, except that of course we didn't mean to make you all worry so much."

"You took my little girl into the city, got her drunk, left a completely misleading message on Jane's phone, didn't call, and wasn't available when we called you." Henry summed up their actions last night. "I pray when you become a parent that you never have to feel the worry that we felt last night. While you were passed out drunk, we were up talking to the police."

Lizzy struggled against the impulse to defend her actions. Intellectually she knew he was well within his right to scold her and make her feel as guilty as he could for their actions last night, but it was hard not to be defensive under such an attack. "I understand. I'm sorry."

Henry looked at her a few moments. "You know there was a time when I didn't want you around Lydia and Catherine, when you had become too wild and unpredictable."

"Yes." Lizzy replied quietly. Her stomach rolled with the memories of that time in her life. Late nights and underage drinking, being out all night with her friends, breaking the law- Darcy was right that she didn't have a record but that was only because she had the pure dumb luck of never being caught.

"Lydia especially looks up to you; I had come to think your recent change in attitude would be good for her, that you could curb her wild impulses now that you had seen the errors of your ways, sort to speak." Henry commented. Lizzy shrugged a little, unsure of what he wanted from her.

"To be honest, you lost a lot of the recent trust you had built back up with me." Henry sighed. Lizzy counted to ten in her head. She wanted to tell him that she didn't care, and that his youngest daughter was eighteen and he could no longer keep Lizzy away from her sisters if she wanted to see them. She wanted to tell him his opinion didn't matter to her and he could shove it up his ass. She knew that she was just reacting from the defensive feeling she got when criticized, so she bit her tongue, quite literally, and waited him out. If he was going to tell her she wasn't allowed back in his house she would simply shrug and pack her stuff.

"But in light of all the changes you've made in your life – going back to school, staying out of trouble, I'm willing to call this a momentary lapse in judgment and give you another chance." Henry gave her an indulgent smile, like he was doing her a favor. Lizzy held onto her temper so far, and she wasn't going to lose it now.

"Thank you, Henry." Lizzy replied simply.

"Well, I suppose you'd like to get changed too." Henry gestured to her that she could go; she did so immediately, before she said something she'd regret.

Upstairs, she ran into Jane coming out of the bathroom. "How did it go?" she asked, following Lizzy into their shared room.

"Ugh. It went okay. He gave me this whole 'I've very disappointed in you, but willing to give you another chance' speech." Lizzy replied. She decided to forgo the shower until she went home, not wanting to leave Darcy alone with her family any longer. She quickly changed into a simple jeans and t-shirt.

"That boyfriend of yours" Jane started with a smile. "He seems to suit you."

"Really?" Lizzy questioned, curious. What did _that_ mean?

"Yeah. You know- sweet, but tough." Jane clarified.

"Sweet but tough." Lizzy repeated, thinking that summed up Will perfectly but didn't feel it described her at all. Bitchy and prone to mistakes felt closer to the truth, but then Jane always did see the best in people, especially those she loved.

"Well, he's going to take me home so you don't have to." Lizzy let her know, shoving cloths into her overnight bag, cringing as she thought of all the things Franny could be doing and saying in the absence of level headed people like her and Jane.

"I figured." Jane replied.

"I really am sorry we made you guys worry so much." Lizzy finally faced her sister. Jane smiled, sweet and forgiving.

"Of course you didn't mean to make us worry like that," Jane reassured her. "I'm just glad you guys are okay. I thanked Will too; you know he came by when he heard you guys were missing?"

"He said something about it." Lizzy replied, trying to remember what exactly he had said. She remembered him saying his partner had picked up on it first, because it was the first mention he had ever made that he _had_ a partner. How did he explain knowing they were looking for her?

"He was here early and he listened to the message you left. The police were stalling, because both of you guys were over eighteen and they weren't sure if it qualified as a missing person's case or not, so he promised to look for you in the city." Jane explained, able to tell her sister was curious. "He's got a real take charge attitude."

"Yeah." Lizzy agreed, thinking her sister probably got more of a glance at Darcy than Will.

"You do like him, don't you?" Jane asked gently, her head cocked.

"What? Of course I do." Lizzy asked, suddenly nervous.

"It just seems like…" Jane hesitated, trying to put words to her observations. Lizzy should have known the person who knew her best would be able to pick up the subtleties of her interactions with the man who was supposed to be her boyfriend. "It seems like he's more of a friend."

"Well, we just started dating. And you know I'm not into PDA." Lizzy shrugged, hoping the guilt she felt at lying wasn't all over her face but Jane nodded.

"That's true." She agreed. "Just as long as you're happy."

"I'm happy." Lizzy smiled. "I'd be happier downstairs so Will isn't alone any longer with our crazy family." Jane laughed. Lizzy grabbed her overnight bag, swept her gaze once more over the room to make sure nothing was left behind, then followed her sister downstairs.

"We should double date soon. You and Will and me and Charles." Jane said as their made their way to the dining room.

"Sure." Lizzy shrugged amiably even as she thought it would probably never happen.

Any further discussion was cut short as Lizzy and Jane took in the scene. Cat and Lydia were at one end of the table, Cat seemingly pestering Lydia for details on her wild night out as Lydia was uncharacteristically silent and focused on her food. Lizzy guessed she was still suffering from the effects of a hangover and felt solidarity with her youngest sister. During all the running around and apologizing she had been doing, Lizzy had pushed any ill effects from a night out drinking, but it was slowly catching up to her and all she wanted to do was lay back down for another twelve hours or so. Lydia looked up as they walked in the room. Her eyebrows rose in question and Lizzy gave a little shrug to let her know she had survived the discussion with her step-father unscathed. Lizzy then turned her attention to the other end of the table, where Franny and Henry were both in discussion with Will, who was giving his typical short answer replies. The trio also looked up as Jane and Lizzy entered, Franny immediately honing in on Lizzy.

"Lizzy dear, you're not leaving?" she asked, sounding aghast. Lizzy met Will's even gaze, then turned back to her mother.

"We have to get back home soon." She replied, grasping for an easy excuse. "We have homework to finish up before class tomorrow."

"It might be more beneficial to get your homework done a bit early. That way, if you happened to be out all night you won't have to rush to get it done the night before." Henry commented with a small, knowing smile. Lizzy tried for a polite smile but suspected it looked more like a grimace. She didn't know what his deal was lately – he had always been friendly but distant; leaving any life lessons to her mother or father. When she had gone through her wild and rebellious years, it was true that he had forbidden her from visiting her two younger sisters for fear she would influence similar bad habits in them. Even then, however, he had been more like an acquaintance than a father-figure. After her own father had died and she was inspired to turn her life around, he was supportive but still familiarly detached. Now it was like something changed and she was a project he had to fix; a wayward daughter that needed his help. Well, he was in for a rude awakening if he thought he would have any influence over her.

"You ready?" she directed the question towards Will as she shifted her overnight bag on her shoulder. He nodded easily, standing up; Franny and Henry followed suit.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Young." He paused to shake Henrys hand. "Mrs. Young." He switched his grip to pump her mother's hand a few times. "Thank you for the meal." Lizzy eyed him, seeing a new fragment of his personality. Was this Will, or Darcy?

"The pleasure is all ours." Franny gushed. "You're welcome anytime, of course. We can't thank you enough for bringing our girls home."

Will just nodded, stepping towards Lizzy.

"Come back soon, Lizzy." Franny embraced her, letting her know with an extra squeeze that she was happy with the boy Lizzy had brought home. Lizzy smiled affectionately, a sudden swell of fondness for her mother blooming in her chest.

"I will mom. Thanks for everything." Lizzy smiled, pulling away. Henry had come closer as well, putting an arm around his wife when she stepped back. Lizzy nodded to him, not yet ready to embrace, even though she knew she had no right to be angry with him. Instead, she directed herself to Cat, who had also come up when she realized Lizzy was leaving.

"Keep up the good work in school." She told her. "I'm proud of you." Cat beamed at her when they pulled back and Lizzy was surprised to discover that maybe she did have some influence in her younger sisters lives. Did her opinion really mean that much to her? If so, she would take any opportunity to help her sister stay on the path she was on.

"I had fun." Lydia embraced her next. "We should do it again sometime." She winked, out of the view of her parents.

Lizzy gave her a look, but smiled and said "I had fun too," Jane was next, her embrace familiar and easy. "Sorry to cut our weekend short."

"Don't worry about it." Jane smiled easily, her eyes flicked to Will briefly. "I understand."

After another round of goodbyes, this one including saying bye to Will as well, the two of them left the house.

"Sorry about leaving you alone." Lizzy had to say as they made their way to his car.

"Don't worry about it." His low voice was beginning to become familiar to her. "Your parents seemed to take it well."

Was that a subtle way of asking how her talk with Henry went, or just idle filler for the conversation? As unimportant as it seemed, she needed to learn the answer to that. When they were alone, she couldn't help but think of him as Darcy; the self-assured, borderline cocky undercover cop whose sole purpose was taking Wickham down. Darcy, she knew, cared about keeping her safe, but keeping her safe and wanting to get to know he better were two very different things. It was hard for her to imagine Darcy being interested in her, past whether or not she was in immediate danger, so when he asked her questions he didn't need the answer to it threw her.

She supposed it was possible she was being hard on him. Thinking it out in her head like that made it seem like he was some cold machine, and she knew from experience that he wasn't. Though it was the part of him she thought of as Will, she had seen him be teasing, funny, and caring. She knew she was more guarded around him when they were alone, but that was part self-preservation. She was attracted to him, and she knew that was clear to him from the first day they met; it wouldn't be hard to think she was in love with him if she got to know him any better. Then again, getting to know him may uncover undesirable parts of his personality that would turn her off. She supposed there was equal chance of either scenario happening and, actually, that thought actually made her feel better.

"My mom was fine, obviously, but Henry was a total tool about it" Lizzy answered in a huff. She tossed her bag into his backseat before joining him in the front seat.

"How so?" he asked, his brow furrowed. She gave him a brief summary of their talk.

"I know I was in the wrong." Lizzy fully admitted. "But… he just got under my skin, with his attitude."

"What did he mean about the trouble in your youth?" Darcy wondered. Lizzy bit the inside of her cheek, hesitating. Darcy didn't push, and that helped her feel relaxed enough to tell him.

"Before my dad died," she began quietly. "I was a little out of control. I had lived my whole life, balancing on the line of Thomas Bennet's supernerd daughter, and the friend of a bunch of criminals. One day I took the plunge. I quit school and did the usual- stayed out late, drank too much, experimented with, well, pot because I was too scared to try anything else."

"Or too smart." Darcy commented. He glanced over briefly to meet her eye before looking back at the road.

"Anyway, I didn't know it at the time, but my father was sick. He kept it from me. He was too weak to curb my rebellion, but at the time I thought he didn't care enough to try." Lizzy hesitated, feeling the familiar pain of shame at her actions and fights with her father. She felt tears sting her eyes and decided to stop there. Whatever her relationship was with Darcy, she was not ready to cry in front of him.

She looked out the window, but felt his hand on her knee. She couldn't help but glance over at him in surprise, but his eyes were steadfast on the road, despite the fact that she was sure he could feel her eyes on him. She returned her own eyes to the road, but focused on the strange feeling; usually whenever a guy had touched her knee it was in flirtation, in this case, however, she would describe it more like a sense of comfort, though her skin did still tingle under the fabric where his hand lay. After a moment he took his hand away and she was surprised to realize the momentary distraction had calmed her and she was able to go on.

"Then there was a moment… it was like a scene out of a movie. I was supposed to go with some guys from The Family to wreck a meth lab in what would eventually become Wickham's territory." She began again, but Darcy stopped her.

"You were going to do _what_?" he asked, incredulous.

"Simmer down, detective." She couldn't help but smile with a hint of her former self. He met her gaze again, but this time he wore a familiar frown. "Just because I don't have a record, doesn't mean I'm an angel." She said mysteriously. He looked disquieted, and she decided to finish her story before he could question her further. "Anyway, like I said, I was supposed to go with The Family to wreck this meth lab, but I got a call from my dad wanting to see me. I had to make a choice between going with The Family or seeing my dad, who at this point I still didn't know was sick. Looking back, it was like it was taken right out of a screenplay." She joked lightly to distance herself from the memory.

"So what did you choose?" he asked after a moment. His voice didn't seem too curious and at first she was irritated that he was losing interest in her story- one that she hadn't actually shared with anyone so unconnected to her. He met her gaze once more when she didn't answer and she realized he _was_ interested- the reason he didn't seem curious was that he had already guessed the outcome.

"I skipped the raid." She shrugged. "I met my father, who finally told me how sick he was. It was the turning point I needed, and I spent the next few months trying to make him see that I had changed, that I was going to get my life back together." There was a lot she didn't tell Darcy; how she had lost a lot of respect from people in The Family when she backed out of the raid, especially when she distanced herself from them afterwards; how hard it was after her father died to keep going with her newfound life changes when all she wanted to do was revert back to drinking and partying to feel numb. The only thing that had kept her going then was the thought of making her father proud of her once more, even if it was posthumously. In a way she was learning to appreciate, Darcy didn't push any further.

Soon after, they pulled up to her apartment building. He got out with her, caring her stuffed overnight bag and leading the way upstairs. She unlocked the door, happy to be home once more.

"If you're hungry, we should probably order something. The fridge is empty." Lizzy suggested, taking her bag from him. "I'm going to take a quick shower."

"Alright." He replied, settling into his usual spot on her couch and pulling books out of the backpack he had left. She guessed they really _were_ going to finish up homework, though what they had wasn't actually due until later that week. He seemed to like to keep on top of it, however, and she had to admit she tried to do the same.

After she showered and changed into sweat pants and an oversized t-shirt, she joined him on the couch.

"I called that Thai place up the street and ordered you fried rice with chicken." Darcy said as a greeting, shifting his books and papers to make room for her. She moaned her appreciation.

"Yeeesssss." She sighed. "I didn't realize how hungry I was until this moment. How long ago did you order?" she asked eagerly. His mouth pulled slightly upward at her reaction.

"Fifteen minutes ago, I guess." He looked at her with an unreadable expression. She was too tired to let it intimidate her, however, so she just smiled back and opened her own book to the page he was on.

"I guess I can wait." She sighed, hoping her stomach wouldn't rumble and betray her. She pulled her damp hair back away from her face, twisted it a few times, and hung it over her left shoulder. Darcy squirmed slightly next to her and she glanced over, afraid she had flicked residual water from her hair on him, or something. His eyes bore into the book in from of him, giving nothing away, so with a mental shrug she concentrated on her own book.

Another half an hour passed in silence before there was a knock on the door. Lizzy started to rise but Darcy put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. He checked the peephole before opening the door; deeming it safe, he flicked the deadbolt and swung the door inward. After a few brief moments of exchanging a few words with the delivery guy, he set a warm bag of food in front of her and she eagerly dug through the treasure.

"How much do I owe you?" she asked.

"Don't worry about it." He said dismissively. She raised her eyebrows and asked if he was sure but he waved her off again, so she could only shrug and thank him.

"I'll get us some plates." She said, moving towards the kitchen. "Thirsty? We have…" she hesitated, opening the refrigerator door. "Water, beer, milk, orange juice…" she picked up the orange juice, gave a shake and checked the expiration date. "Eh, scratch the orange juice."

"Water's fine." He replied, putting their books and notes away. She nodded, not sure he was looking, and grabbed two glasses and filled them with water. She brought them to the small coffee table in front of the couch before going back for the plates and silverware.

They both filled their plates with their respective dishes, and Lizzy gave Darcy the remote control to find them something to watch on TV. He eventually stopped on an episode of Law and Order. She glanced at him until he felt her eyes on him, fork halfway to his mouth.

"What?" he questioned, lowering the fork.

"Law and Order? Really?" She asked, a small smile in the corner of her mouth

"We can watch something else if you like." He offered.

"No, I like this show. I'm just surprised that _you_ like it." She commented. He could tell where she was going with this, but he just gave her a look and continued eating. "I thought cops were supposed to be all indigent about how wrong shows like this get it."

"I thought we agreed you wouldn't call me a cop," was all Darcy said in reply. "You may slip and forget yourself out in public" Lizzy rolled her eyes, but knew the jab was deserved, she did, after all, already slip once.

"Yes, dear." She quipped back, a sweet smile on her face.

* * *

Another's Notes: Sorry for the delay, but thanks for all the encouraging reviews. I'm glad everyone is enjoying the story thus far and I assure you that I plan to finish. I already have an outline of the story and where it's going so all that's left is to find time to write it out. Thanks once more for the reviews.


	8. Chapter 8

**Recap of Previous Chapter**: The morning after Will discovered Lizzy and Lydia were not, in fact, missing but were just sleeping off hangovers at Lizzy's apartment, the trio made their way back to Lizzy's parent's house. Franny was just happy to see them home, but Lizzy's stepfather Henry gave a two month grounding to Lydia and a lecture on growing up and being more mature to both sisters. On the way home, Will asks about her past a little more and Lizzy opens up about how she rebelled, quitting school and hanging out with JJ's gang until her father finally revealed how sick he was and she promised to get her life back together. They headed back to her place to relax with some food and an episode of Law and Order.

"_No, I like this show. I'm just surprised that you like it." She commented. He could tell where she was going with this, but he just gave her a look and continued eating. "I thought cops were supposed to be all indigent about how wrong shows like this get it." _

"_I thought we agreed you wouldn't call me a cop." Was all Darcy said in reply. "You may slip and forget yourself out in public" Lizzy rolled her eyes, but knew the jab was deserved, she did, after all, already slip once. _

"_Yes, dear." She quipped back, a sweet smile on her face._

* * *

The next week, Will and Lizzy got back into the schedule they had established before her weekend away. That meant he was there early in the morning to pick her up for school, a luxury she was definitely getting used to. It was about midweek that Lizzy started hearing second hand about Will becoming good friends with Wickham and Ray, and was happy to hear he was making a name for himself. The quicker he became integrated into Wickham's inner crew, the quicker she hoped he would be able to take him down. Although she didn't yet know how they would keep her safe once his identity was known, the constant stress of always watching her words and thinking about how she should be acting was starting to get to her.

After school that Friday, Will dropped her off at Charlottes with the plan to meet up at Wickham's bar in an hour or so. She needed to spend some time with Charlotte and he needed some one on one time with Wickham. Ray planned on meeting them at the bar a little later as well, and for whatever reason Ray was always more supportive of Will with Lizzy there. She agreed to show her face and grease the wheels, sort to speak.

"I'll walk over in about an hour, okay?" she left her backpack in the car and circled around the car to the side walk.

"I don't like you walking the streets alone, especially this close to sundown." Darcy told her through the open window. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at his caution.

"Do I have to remind you that I grew up in this neighborhood again?" Lizzy asked.

"Then you should be aware of the danger, and not make yourself vulnerable just to prove you're not afraid." He frowned back at her.

"I am aware of the danger – I am aware that nothing is going to happen in the three blocks I have to walk to get there. Don't worry so much." She had to cut herself off from adding 'detective'. They were alone on the street, but he didn't even like her calling him that when they were totally alone and in the privacy of his or her apartment. He continued to frown, his hand gripping the steering wheel tight and releasing, tight and releasing; she softened her tone "I'll be fine, okay?"

He nodded tensely, and she turned to walk into the diner, not giving him a chance to change his mind and insist on driving the few blocks to pick her up.

"Charlotte." Lizzy greeted.

"Hey girl." Charlotte called back, filling someone's coffee at the counter. "Go on back to our table, I'll bring us some drinks."

The place wasn't packed, but it was fuller than she was used to. Not many people in the neighbored came to the diner on Friday nights; most of them were getting their weekends started with drinks or drugs somewhere. Still, there was a good amount of people in the diner. Luckily, it looked like Charlotte got someone to pick up a shift. She couldn't remember the girl's name, but she recognized it as someone who mainly worked at a different restaurant further away, one of the girls who had picked up a shift at Charlottes in the past for the extra money.

"You still haven't found anyone permanent?" Lizzy asked unnecessarily as Charlotte set down a plate of nachos and two margaritas, their usual Friday night treat.

"A few takers, but no one who wants the odd hours and low pay." Charlotte replied with a frown.

"Well, here's to better luck with the next applicant." Lizzy raised her glass and Charlotte mirrored her. They focused on the nachos for a moment before Charlotte asked her if she set up a meeting with the school yet.

"Next week." Lizzy replied, happy she found time that week to do just that. Charlotte would not have been understanding if she had put it off. "I have to get my most recent transcripts to them and dig up my SATs and all that."

"Good." Charlotte nodded. "You know the neighborhood is talking about your boyfriend." Charlotte always attached special meaning to the word.

"Anything more than the same old stuff?" Lizzy wondered, not rising to the bait.

"Wickham's got something big in the works, so they say. Good money. People are scrambling to be picked for the draft and word is Will O'Mara is one of the top picks." Charlotte paused, taking a drink. Lizzy let her take her time; she could tell by the tone there was more to the story, although this was the first she was hearing about a big score going done. "A lot of people don't like it, him coming out of nowhere to be Wickham's best friend."

Lizzy frowned, catching the warning. A target was being painted on Darcy's back by those who had worked for Wickham longer and were being overlooked by the new guy. After a moment, she shrugged. "He can take care of himself." She replied, believing it, despite a twinge of fear in her stomach. Charlotte studied her for a moment.

"You like him." She commented. Lizzy sat motionless for half a second before cocking her head slightly to the side.

"Of course I do. He's my boyfriend." She said with a look. Charlotte rolled her eyes.

"Ok." She said, clearly wanting to say more, but glancing at the people in the diner, a lot of them eating alone and who could very easily overhear their conversation.

"How's your brother taking the news of this 'big score' Wickham has?" Lizzy wondered.

"He thinks it's all talk." Charlotte replied. "Maybe it is. Wickham is a methhead with a semi-decent crew, but he's not a criminal mastermind. He barely likes running his own crew."

Lizzy couldn't argue, having observed this herself. Her personal feelings, morals, and ethics on the subject of crime and drug dealing aside, she thought Ray would be a much better crew boss.

The conversation turned to more mutual ground and the friends spent the next hour in more pleasant conversation while they slowly finished off the food and drinks. Soon it was time for Lizzy to meet back up with Will and for Charlotte to get back to work. More people were trickling in for dinner and it was becoming too much for one person to handle alone.

"See you tonight?" Lizzy stood and helped Charlotte bus the table they just used.

"Maybe. I might go out after, let some steam off." Charlotte replied. Something about the way she said it, eyes down and shoulders hunched, left Lizzy a little suspicious, but then they all had their secrets and if Charlotte wanted to keep something to herself she was well within her rights, especially considering how good she was being about keeping Lizzy's secret.

"Alright, have fun. You deserve it." Lizzy smiled. Charlotte waved her off and Lizzy set off down the street, making her way to Wickham's bar. Downtown was just starting to come awake, but there were still not that many people out yet. As she suspected, she made it the three blocks without incident and walked into the bar ready to tell Darcy 'I told you so'. She spotted him, Wickham and Ray sitting at the bar and made her way towards them.

"Hey sweetheart." Will gave her an easy smile; one Lizzy couldn't help but return. She recognized this relaxed side of him as having a few drinks under his belt. He was lounging casually with his back against the bar next to Ray and Wickham, both of whom turned at his greeting. She walked up to him, stopping about a foot away but Will leaned forward, his hand going behind her neck to pull her into a kiss. Besides the first night at Wickham's party, he had only put an arm around her in the company of Ray and Wickham, so she was momentarily surprised at his actions. The feel of his warm lips against hers quickly chased any thoughts she might have had on the subject and she chose to just enjoy the feeling. It was a chaste kiss, but the affectionate smile on his face when they pulled apart and the way he pulled her possessively into his side was almost as good as the kiss itself.

The three of them continued whatever conversation they were having before she got there. At first she was happy she wasn't required to talk for a few moments, but when she got her thoughts under control once more she scolded herself for being so affected. She had to learn to be as casual as he was, or Jane wouldn't be the only one who noticed her odd behavior in the presence of her supposed 'boyfriend'. She relaxed into his side, reaching over to take his mug off the bar and take a healthy drink from it. He looked down at her with another easy smile, encouraging her familiar actions.

"Sales are going well, O'Mara." Wickham pulled his attention from her. "Keep this up and you have a permanent spot on the crew."

"Sounds great, man." Will smiled. "Maybe then you'll finally let me in on all the secret handshakes."

"Eh, one day at a time. You haven't proven yourself that much." Wickham grinned back, polishing off his beer. "Keep up the good work and we'll talk."

"Will's a good man to have around." Ray spoke up. "He saved my ass yesterday."

"What happened yesterday?" Lizzy asked curiously.

"Sorry little sister," Wickham jumped in before either man could reply. "But just because you're dating O'Mara doesn't mean you're loyal to the crew." Lizzy wanted to let Wickham know that Ray and Will had more loyalty to her than him, but controlled her temper. It wasn't worth it to get into a pissing match over something so trivial – something that Will would tell her later if she asked anyway.

There was an awkward pause, then Ray said. "Before I forget – I have that package you wanted to see."

"Right." Wickham pushed his empty glass against the bar and slid off the stool. "Tag along, O'Mara."

"I'll be right back." Will murmured into her ear, sliding his arm off her shoulder. The three boys left her to head to a back room in the bar. She was not surprised he had an office here; it was a known front for a lot of Wickham's business. Lizzy sat on the stool at the bar, debating whether or not to finish Will's drink. If he was as inebriated as he seemed, he was probably counting on her to drive them home.

"Get you anything?" the bartender- a young, attractive blonde with big hazel eyes, asked her.

"Just a coke." Lizzy sighed. She couldn't help but watch the girl as she got a glass and filled it with soda. "You look familiar"

"You tutored me in algebra when I was a kid." The girl smiled. "Not for very long, I'm not surprised you don't remember."

"Allison." Lizzy's mind finally supplied. She looked a little surprised, but nodded.

"That's right." She confirmed. "I'm still in school; I just work nights to pay the bills."

"Is it tough?" Lizzy wondered, sipping her drink. Alison hung out a minute, another waitress was helping the patrons sitting in the tables and booths, but the bar was still practically deserted.

"It's alright." She winced. "I get by." Lizzy thought her expression spoke volumes. She wondered if it was the job itself or the fact that she worked in, let's face it, a sleazy bar. She couldn't be more than eighteen, and with her good looks and low-key personality, Lizzy could well imagine getting hassled by all kinds of scumbags.

"You know Charlottes place, the diner?" Lizzy questioned.

"Lucas's sister?" Allison asked. "Yeah."

"She's been getting more business; going to need a waitress soon. You should talk to her, if this place isn't working out." Lizzy suggested. Allison looked intrigued, then apprehensive.

"I don't know. Wickham might see it as jumping from his crew to The Family." Allison chewed her lip. Lizzy shook her head.

"Charlotte may be JJs sister, but the diner is off limits, it has nothing to do with The Family." Lizzy assured her.

"Maybe." Allison hedged, clearly still uneasy.

"Hey broad." A tall, broad shouldered man who was visibly drunk had just stumbled his way up to the bar with two of his friends. They all chortled at his nickname for the bartender. "Three beers, pronto."

Allison and Lizzy exchanged looks; Lizzy thought that this moment had more potential of convincing her she would be better off as a waitress at Charlotte's than anything Lizzy could say to change her mind. Allison headed over to fill their order and Lizzy checked her watch, wondering how much longer she would have to wait for Will.

"And what about you, pretty lady." Suddenly, loud mouth was right next to her. His friends had stayed where they were, but they were both following the exchange eagerly. Lizzy mentally groaned. "How about I buy you a drink?"

"No thanks." Lizzy replied simply. "I'm not drinking."

"Not drinking?" the man laughed noisily. "Honey, you are at a bar."

"I'm just waiting." Lizzy said calmly, and then added "For my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend." The man scoffed, obviously not believing her. She frowned; figures the one time she was telling the truth about a boyfriend to get rid of a guy that he wouldn't believe her. "Why don't you take a ride with me, honey, and I'll make you forgot this boyfriend of yours."

"I doubt it." Lizzy couldn't help but smirk. Suddenly, he grabbed her arm roughly, making her face him.

"You think this is funny?" he snarled at her, suddenly irate. Lizzy froze, surprised at his ire. "I offer you a drink and a good time and you laugh in my face?"

"Let go of me." Lizzy glared at him with more confidence than she felt, pulling her arm back to try and break his grip.

"You need to learn some manners." He frowned.

She could guess at what he would do, in fact, a myriad of things were going through her mind at a mile a minute, but she still had no idea exactly what he planned on. Despite having been in tough situations before, the suddenness of it all threw her off balance - his unexpected and irrational anger left her unsure of what move to make. She would never survive a fight with him – he had at least a hundred pounds and several inches on her. Her best option was to knock him down, or at least off balance enough to get away, and then run for it. They were both immobile for a moment, she still on the stool and he standing next to it, her arm in his tight grasp, while they both glared at each other and seemed to be planning their next move. Before either could act, however, Will suddenly materialized next to her and elbowed the man in the throat.

Lizzy's eyes widened at the action. The man immediately loosened his grip on her arm to clutch at his throat, but Will wasn't finished. He grabbed the man's head and slammed it into the bar, planted his fist in his ribcage a few times, and then kneed his stomach on the way down. He leaned down to grab the man's shirt, pulling up slightly to look him right in the face.

"I assume you have a very good explanation for laying a hand on my girlfriend?" Will's voice was controlled, low and angry as he crotched next to the man. The fierceness of his tone sent a shiver down Lizzy's spine; there was something about his violent actions coupled with the calm tone he used that spoke volumes of how dangerous he was.

The two friends stumbled over to help; Will gave the man one more punch to the face before straightening up in anticipation. As one came close enough, he kicked him hard in the shin - hard enough that he went down and his friend stopped in his tracks with his hands in a surrendering motion, backing up a few feet and clearly not willing to take him on.

"What happened here?" Ray's amused voice came from behind Lizzy but she still hadn't taken her eyes off Will.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly, reaching out to graze her arm where the man had grabbed her. She nodded.

"Yeah, uh, thanks for that." She mumbled awkwardly, her heart still pounding with a fight or flight sensation in her stomach. His mouth quirked in a small smile.

"What, no 'I could have handled this myself'?" he teased. "No fight about how you didn't need any help?"

"Oh, I totally had it handled." She gave a shaky smile. "But it's just easier your way."

"Will, Ray." Lizzy didn't know when Wickham had shown up, but he was there now, taking in the situation. "Clean this mess up." He waved generally to the man lying on the ground. His friends had already taken off. "It's scaring off the customers."

"Sure boss." Ray nodded. He touched Lizzy's arm and gave her a look to show he was glad she was okay, then helped Will pull the man off the ground. Upright, she could see he was bleeding from his nose and holding his side in pain. Although he hadn't really done anything to her, she felt a certain satisfaction in his pain. From the quickness of his anger, she was sure she wasn't the first girl he had hassled in his life, and hoped for any future girl's sake that he had learned his lesson tonight.

Ray and Will stumbled momentarily under the man's dead weight, but eventually got him walking on his own. Wickham headed back to the office while they led the man outside and down the street a bit, out of Lizzy's view.

"That boyfriend of yours." Allison was back and refilling her soda. "He's a good man to have around."

"Yeah." Lizzy took a breath her heart finally slowing down to a normal tempo. "Listen, if you're at all interested, I'll give Charlotte a heads up to look out for you."

Alison hesitated, but nodded. "I'd appreciate that." Lizzy wrote down Charlottes number on a napkin and handed it to Allison before she headed down the bar to fill a drink order.

Will and Ray were back soon after. "You're quick, man." Ray was saying, looking at Will with admiration. "You go to teach me some of those moves." He gave a few mock punches to Will's arm.

"Sure." Will pretended to throw a punch at Rays face, but when Ray threw an arm up to block, landed it in his ribcage instead. "It's all about adaptability."

"You used to box, or something?" Ray grinned, rubbing the spot Will had just hit, though Lizzy could tell he barely touched him. Will picked up Lizzy's soda and drank from it, putting an arm around her. She half wondered if it was to prevent Ray from retaliating with his own mock punch.

"A little, actually." Will nodded. "Years ago."

"I ran track you know." Ray threw up a hand to gesture to Allison that he wanted a refill. "Back in school. I was pretty good."

"Pretty good?" Lizzy poked him teasingly. "You were the fastest on the team. State was going to give him a full ride."

"Yeah, once upon a time." Ray attempted an unaffected tone, but Lizzy could tell he still regretted never getting to go and wished she hadn't mentioned it. "But I would have never made it without Lizzy doing all my homework for me." He grinned, poking her back. She flinched away from him and closer into Will.

"Maybe we could have gone to state together," Lizzy grinned at the thought.

"Yeah, if we hadn't screwed up so bad." Ray laughed self-deprecatingly. Allison dropped off a mug for both Ray and Will. Lizzy reclaimed her soda from Will, who picked up the beer but didn't drink.

"Ray…" Lizzy rebuked.

"Ah, come on Lizzy. We both know I would have never made it in college anyway." Ray shrugged. "And you didn't screw up so badly that you'll never have a chance again."

"Forget it." Lizzy shook her head. "It's Friday night. Let's talk about something else."

"Her dad really did try to get us out of this neighborhood." Ray told Will, ignoring Lizzy. "He was a good guy, always trying to get us little bastards to care about our lives." Ray paused a moment, looking into his beer. "He got Jake Mullins himself out of this neighborhood, and everyone figured the only place that guy was going was upstate for life, remember that Liz?"

"Yeah." Lizzy said automatically. She remembered, but it was still too painful to think of her dad.

"It's too bad you didn't get a chance to meet him." Ray still addressed Will. Lizzy wondered if this was Rays passive-aggressive way of getting back at her for making him remember what could have been if he had gotten to go to college. "He was real tough, real hard on you, but it was when he didn't care what you were doing that you felt worthless." Lizzy gripped her mug filled with soda and mechanically took a drink, hoping the subject would pass.

"This one time I pulled Lizzy into some stupid prank I was doing on another teacher." Ray smiled while reminiscing. "And when Principal Bennet found out" he paused to whistle "I had never been more scared." He elbowed Lizzy. "Remember that?"

"Yeah." She nodded, her face tight. Will still had an arm around her; he squeezed her shoulder, then addressed Ray about his plans for this weekend to change the subject. Once again, Lizzy was in his debt.

"You know where we should go?" Ray asked, eyes suddenly bright. "We should take Will down to the cabin."

"We are way too old to be going to the cabin." Lizzy shook her head right away, still a little mad at him for bringing up her father like that.

"Oh come on." Ray took a big swig from his beer.

"What cabin?" Will asked.

"It's this shitty little cabin a few hours from here. It's kind of like a time share." Ray laughed.

"Because no one really owns it, but a lot of people use it; mostly to hide out from the cops." Lizzy explained to Will.

"Why would you want to go to a shitty cabin in the middle of the woods?" Will questioned.

"Oh, you know, get away from the city for a few days. Please there are caves, and this rock slide into a lake, and a rope swig off this giant tree." Ray looked like a kid, talking excitedly. "We haven't been in forever."

"Because last time we went, I got lost in the caverns and was convinced I was going to die there." Lizzy reminded him.

"Oh yeah." Ray laughed. "That was hilarious. We couldn't find her for hours." Ray launched into the story of what had happened for Will's sake. How they had gone up with a group of friends, how they all had been drinking, how Ray had told a totally fictitious story of someone dying in the caves, and how it was now haunted. It had freaked everyone else out, but Lizzy called him on his bullshit and said she didn't believe it. He challenged her to going in alone, if she was so sure. She immediately took a flashlight and a beer and headed out to where the caves were.

"More brave than smart." Ray teased, still laughing.

"I was drunk." Lizzy rolled her eyes. "Give me a break."

"So we all waited for a little bit for her to come running back, but then someone put on the movie of The Ring, you know, and we kind of…" Ray trailed off looking sheepishly at Lizzy.

"Kind of totally forgot about me!" Lizzy added, hitting him in the arm. "Some friends."

"Well anyway. You shouldn't have gone." Ray shrugged. "But we should definitely go back. What do you say, Will?"

"A shitty cabin in the middle of nowhere with caves and a frozen lake; How could I say no?" Will rose an eyebrow, making Lizzy smile and Ray roll his eyes.

"I'm talking to Sherrie about it when she gets here, we're all going." Ray said with certainty.

"Yeah, I'm sure Sherrie of all people is going to want to go to some shitty cabin in the woods. That so seems like her kind of thing." Lizzy laughed.

The conversation kept on for a while as Ray and Will continued to drink. They talked about past trouble they've gotten into, and Lizzy was impressed with what Will was coming up with on the spot. It was jobs that were exciting, but sounded real as well. She was sure Ray believed him, especially considering the skill Will had shown in front of him thus far. Sherrie eventually showed up and, much to Lizzy's surprise, immediately agreed to the plan of heading out to the cabin some weekend.

"Seriously?" Lizzy asked, incredulous.

"Sure." Sherrie grinned. "Springs just around the corner, and I've never been out of the city. It'll be fun." Lizzy and Will exchanged looks. Neither one looked particularly excited at the prospect.

"The water's going to be freeing, if not frozen. The caves are going to be freezing too. What's the point?" Lizzy countered.

"Don't be such a downer, Liz." Ray reprimanded. "Don't forget about the hot springs."

"Oooh. Hot springs!" Sherrie repeated excitedly. "I can't wait!"

The four friends hung out for a few more hours; they even got a table and ordered dinner, but eventually Sherrie decided she wanted to go to the club and dance before it was too late. Ray agreed to take her and the couple spent some time trying to convince Will and Lizzy to go along with them. Lizzy claimed she was too tired and was ready to go home for the night. This caused Sherrie to direct a few harsh but playful comments about how lame Lizzy was, but eventually Ray and Sherrie were on their way out.

"You really want to go home?" Darcy questioned as he laid out some bills on the bar to take care of their tab.

"I don't know, why? Did you have something in mind?" Lizzy questioned curiously.

"I don't know. You feel like hanging out and watching a movie, or something?" Darcy asked. Lizzy was suspired to say the least; she expected something about how they should hang out longer to see if they could get anymore face time with Wickham, or how they should catch up with Ray and Sherrie to cement their friendship a bit more. Watching a movie home alone on a Friday night seemed so much like… a date. She couldn't see the benefit from it, and something Charlotte said was making her think twice about his motives.

Earlier in the week, Charlotte had mentioned something about how he was trying to keep her as happy as he was keeping Ray and Wickham. It started with Lizzy commenting on how relaxed Darcy was becoming in her presence and how he may still be the frowning man-on-a-mission detective, but he was also a little bit like Will- teasing, funny, caring Will. It was then that Charlotte warned her that he had a lot of reasons for wanting to keep her happy. Despite the fact that she held the power to make his case against Wickham blow up with one word of his true identity, she was also making an effort to put him forward as Wickham's new best friend. Lizzy had dismissed Charlotte's theory at the time; Darcy knew she would never blow his cover as much as he knew she didn't need to be pampered. He knew she wanted Wickham out of the picture as much as he did.

"Uh, sure." Lizzy answered. "That sounds fun."

"A lot more fun than spending the weekend in a cabin in the woods." Darcy smiled, leading her out of the bar with a firm hand on her back.

"Can't argue with that," Lizzy smiled.

Since he had been drinking, Lizzy took the keys and drove. Instead of her place, however, he directed her to his apartment. It wasn't far from the bar; it was maybe a mile in the opposite direction of her house. At his direction, she pulled up alongside a meat shop.

"So." She looked at the closed shop warily. "You may be drunker than I thought."

"What?" he asked, his brows drawn in confusion. "Oh." He laughed, catching up to her train of thought. "No, I live in the apartment upstairs." She glanced up to see there were windows above the shop that looked like an apartment.

"Don't the people who own the shop usually live upstairs?" Lizzy asked, following him out of the car and into an unmarked door to the right of the front of the deli.

"Yeah, I think so." He said with a shrug, taking his keys back from her to unlock the door and led her up a flight of stairs. After unlocking one more door, he ushered her into a small apartment and took her coat, hanging both his and hers up in a small closet next to the door. She glanced around the apartment with curiosity. The furniture was sparse, but comfortable. He had a big screen TV and some kind of gaming console next to a shelf full of games and movies. There were no personal artifacts to be seen, however. Lizzy guessed this was his apartment only for the time of his undercover work.

"Why don't you pick out a movie? I have a few I rented on the coffee table there. I'll get us some drinks." Darcy directed her to the couch while he stepped into the kitchen.

She glanced over some of the titles of the movies he owned; mostly action movies, a few classics. There were three movies stacked neatly on the coffee table next to a few magazines that he had apparently rented recently. The Dark Knight Rises, The Hobbit, and The Avengers. She had already seen the dark Knight Rises, but hadn't seen The Avengers yet. She had only seen a handful of the superhero movies that led up to The Avengers, but she figured she would be able to keep up. Besides, she'd heard good things about it.

"Find anything you like?" Darcy asked, sitting down with a few more beers and a bowl of chips. "Sorry, no popcorn."

"Have you seen this one yet?" she asked, holding up The Avengers.

"Nope." He answered, taking it from her and putting into the DVD player. They both relaxed on the couch, sipping their beers and lapsing into a comfortable silence for the next few hours, broken only by a few comments during the movie. Eventually the movie ended, and they chatted about school, Ray and Wickham, and how dealing drugs in the school was going. Once they had exhausted those topics, they fell into silence again.

"People talk about your father like he was a God." Darcy commented after a minute. She felt a familiar pain in her chest that accompanied the reminder that she would never see her father again. Vaguely, she wondered if she would ever get used to the finality of being without him, as well as wondered why everyone was so eager to bring him up tonight.

"Yeah." She finally replied. It always hard to talk about him, her hero in every way, but talking about him with Darcy with no warning really threw her.

"It seemed like he was the father to the whole neighborhood." Darcy added after another minute of silence. She cocked her head towards him, gauging his curiosity. He met her gaze evenly, and, though she couldn't fathom why, he seemed generally interested.

"Yeah." She replied again, turning her head back towards the television. She paused a moment, then added, "He really cared about them. Most of them had no fathers and, I don't know… he took it upon himself to treat them all like his children. He pushed them to work hard in school and stay out of trouble. He also lived in the same neighborhood they did, which I think made a difference. He spent his money fixing up the community center and keeping the gangs out of it so we'd have a place to go when we weren't in school."

"Which explains why everyone treats you like their little sister." Darcy observed and she shrugged.

"I guess so. I mean, he made us into a gang, in a way. He knew joining a gang meant belonging to something bigger than them, something like a family, as well as protection within the neighborhood. So he made us think of each other like a family, or even closer. We weren't allowed to fight with each other; he told us loyalty and respect was one of the best things we could give someone so we better give it to each other and never disrespect one another." She paused, remembering. "He said it much better than that. Not so cheesy. His gift was his voice." She shook her head, turning to look at him again. "I've never met anyone like him; you would really have to see him in action." She smiled, saying "He could have been one hell of a conman if he wanted."

"I'll count my blessings he worked for the good side." Darcy smirked. "He sounds like a natural leader."

"Yeah." She said for the third time. She had a faraway look on her face as she became introverted with things she hadn't thought of in a long time. "He wanted us to think we were special. He would find out what each person excelled at and work on it with them, if they were good at sports or math, or whatever, he would help them get scholarships to go to college; if they just couldn't hack school he would make sure they got decent jobs and set them up with apartments out of the neighborhood."

"That's amazing. I'm surprised he never got recognition for his work." Darcy said. He shifted slightly and she felt him flush against her side.

"He didn't ever want any. I don't know why, I told him he might get donations and scholarships for them, but..." here she shrugged. "JJ was terrible at math." She paused to laugh, relaxing more against him and resting her arm on his leg. "So bad. He just hated it too much, I think; but he loved history and then eventually philosophy. He wanted to be a professor and travel the world." She shrugged again. "It didn't always work out for us."

"What about you?" Darcy questioned in a quiet voice.

"I don't know." She leaned her head back against the couch, just brushing his shoulder. "I'm still trying to get my life together. I'm in college, but I don't know what I want to do, really. I remember my dad." She paused again to swallow a lump forming in her throat. "I remember him and I think how he dedicated his life to this neighborhood and the people in it, and how he made a difference, but only for so many. I look at these kids growing up without him and wonder how different their life would be if he were still alive. His only legacy is the youth center; the way they honor him is by keeping the gangs out of it, for keeping it a place where kids can go to be safe, but for how long will that even last? I'm not so naïve to think it will stay that way forever."

"It sounds like you feel guilty for that." Darcy observed. She turned to look at him, frowning and tense.

"You think I should be doing something?" she asked him, angry.

"No." he said, as calm as he ever was. "I think you think you should. But from what you just said, it sounds like what your father really wanted was for you to do what you wanted to do." She absorbed his words, feeling the truth in them even if she couldn't completely eliminate the guilt she felt that she wasn't following in her father's footsteps.

"Yeah." She sighed, turning her head back so she didn't have to see the earnest look on his face and concentrating on the weight of her head against his shoulder so she also didn't completely loose in in front of him. "I just wish I could have at least honored him with a passion in something. He always valued education, and I do love school, so I try to honor him that way."

"It's a step." Will said, shifting to put an arm around her and pull her closer to him. "Don't be so hard on yourself." This caring side of Darcy only caused further confusion.

In these times when it was only them she expected him to turn off the boyfriend mode, but he only seemed to become more intimate. Maybe not turning it on and off was the way he coped with being undercover, with being a different person. She compared him to the man she met the first day, at the diner, whom she thought of as the real Darcy. Maybe, like Charlotte suggested, he was only keeping her happy. She was opening all the doors for him to taking down Wickham and although she knew he wasn't doing it for the recognition but for the shear fact that Wickham was a dangerous man that needed to be put behind bars, it didn't help that he thought he needed to placate her. She wanted to tell him she wasn't that self-centered, that didn't need him flirt with her, to feign interest in her to keep her content so she didn't go running to the street telling of his true identity. Still, she could be honest with herself enough to admit that she enjoyed the attention from him. He was smart and, despite his innate reserve, eventually opened up to her teasing enough to begin teasing her back. They shared similar values and humor and the trouble was that she was feeling more and more comfortable around him. In moments like these, she found herself having to constantly remind herself that it was all an act. In these moments, cuddling on the couch and speaking about her father, it was the hardest to separate real from fantasy.

"What about you?" she asked in an effort to remind herself that he was only here to take down a murdering drug dealer. "When did you know you wanted to be a cop?" He didn't answer for so long that she thought she must have offended him and despite feeling like she made a misstep, she was also indigent that he was allowed to ask about her father and she couldn't ask a simple question he could choose to give a simple answer to.

"When I was ten, my mother was murdered." He finally said in a quiet voice. She gasped, lifting her head to turn and look him in the eye but he gripped her shoulder to stop her; while it wasn't so hard that it stopped her physically, she took the hint and leaned her head back down.

"I'm so sorry, Darcy." She murmured, placing a hand on his knee, desperate for a way to comfort him. "I shouldn't have asked."

"It's okay." He replied gruffly. "They never found out who did it and I… I think I decided then that I would be a cop, that I would dedicate myself to helping families like mine."

"You are a great cop. Take it from someone who never liked cops." Lizzy replied, then winced, cursing herself for not knowing what to say; he let out a huff and rubbed her shoulder a little, and she took it as a good sign. They sat in silence, staring but not seeing the television as both tried to think of something else to say to ease the tension in the room.

Before ether could think of anything to say, however, there was a knock at the door. Lizzy and Darcy sat up, and Darcy stood to answer the door, pausing to check the peephole. He sighed, turning to give her a look and she frowned, guessing whoever it was was bad news. Darcy opened the door, leaning casually against it, blocking whoever was on the other side from seeing her.

"What's goin on?" he asked in a bored voice.

"You think you can just come in to this neighborhood and take my spot on Wickhams crew?" the other voice said. She didn't recognize it, but a knot formed in her stomach. "No one knows you and suddenly you're everyone's best friend? Well that's bullshit man. I earned that spot."

"Apparently not." Will said calmly. "If you have a problem with who Wickham has on his crew, take it up with him."

"I'm taking it up with you." He said and suddenly Will had a gun in his gut. Lizzy stood, arms crossed and trying not to show how panicked she was as she took her cues from Will. The man pushed him back slightly and took a step into him apartment. Another man stepped behind him; this one Lizzy recognized. Sammy had been part of their group, but left around the same time JJ did to be a runner for a drug dealer that had died a few months back. Most recently he had worked for Wickham, before he bruised Wickham's ego and got set up to be jumped for it. He made eye contact with her, his eyes widening at the sight of her. She cocked her head to the side in a 'Really?' motion and he rolled his eyes, but put a hand out towards her, signaling her to stay put.

Both turned back to the scene between Will and the man with the gun. Now that Lizzy had a better look at him, she realized he was probably doped up on meth and cursed to herself.

"Well, well." He had finally seen her back by the couch and pushed Will forcefully towards her. "I heard the Ice Queen finally found a piece of shit worthy of her." He laughed, ignoring the dangerous look in Will's eye. "I also heard it's thanks to you that this loser took my spot on the crew. If I'd have known all it took to get an introduction was to thaw you out, I would have done it a long time ago" he added with a leer.

"Really?" Lizzy sneered. "Cuz I heard you were tossed since more of the product went up your nose than on the street." He had a crazy look in his eye and brought the gun up as if he were going to pistol whip her, but Will was too fast for him. In a move Lizzy couldn't have duplicated if she tried, Will got the gun out of his hand and was, instead, hitting him in the head with it. The man who had just threatened him was down on the ground, and Will was now pointing his gun at Sammy.

"Wait, he's ok." Lizzy put a hand on Will's arm and he reluctantly lowered the gun to train it on the guy howling in pain on the ground. "What the hell Sammy?"

"I didn't know you'd be here. I didn't know he was your…" Sammy trailed off. The meth head reached out a hand to grab onto Lizzy's ankle and Will immediately kicked him hard in the stomach. "I just needed back into a crew." He said over the meth head's cry. Lizzy took a step back as Will gave him a few more kicks for good measure and went around the coffee table to get close to Sammy.

"You have other friends besides this loser." She said. "Why didn't you come to one of us?"

"I like to save my favors for when I need them." They both paused as Will crouched down to talk to the meth head on the ground. His voice was low and neither of them could make out the words, they just saw the meth head nodding vigorously.

"I'll give JJ a call." Lizzy told him. "He's more of a business man than Wickham. You won't have to jump through so many hoops."

"Won't that get you in trouble with Wickham?" Sammy asked.

"Trouble?" she scoffed. "I'm not part of Wickham's crew."

"You vouched for your boyfriend." Sammy said simply. Lizzy understood the implication, but she shook her head.

"It doesn't matter. Everyone knows my deal. I'm not part of anyone's crew." Lizzy replied forcefully just as Will was pulling the meth head to stand up. His face was bleeding from a nasty cut on his forehead, and from the way he was grasping his side, she wouldn't be surprised if Will had broken a rib.

"So we're clear?" Will was saying and meth head was still nodding. "Take your friend home." He pushed meth head towards Sammy. "And if I ever see either of you around my apartment again, I will shoot first and ask questions later." He paused to let that sink in before asking "Do you understand?"

Both Sammy and Methhead nodded, making their way towards the door. Lizzy caught Sammy's eye just before he left and he gave her a nod of thanks before they were both gone and Will was bolting the door back.

"Jesus." Lizzy breathed, leaning against the wall. "Is it a full moon or something?"

"Who was that?" Darcy asked, pulling the clip from the gun grimacing down at it and sliding it back in.

"Was it loaded?" she asked, ignoring his question. He gave her a look and she let out a breath. "Jesus." She repeated. "Did you think it wasn't or are you really that calm when someone's pointing a gun in your face?"

"Panicking does nothing to help. I was busy thinking of how to get the gun away from him and trying to guess if your friend was carrying too." He was putting the gun in the back of a drawer in his desk while explaining this to her.

"Oh yeah, panicking does nothing to help. I'll try to remember that next time some methhead is about to blow my head off." She laughed weakly. He gave he a look to let her knew he was not amused. "Thanks for saving me again, by the way."

"You shouldn't have been here. I don't know what I was thinking." Darcy was saying, more to himself than to her.

"Well, Wickham is paranoid. It's not crazy to think he has someone watching you and if we're supposed to be dating than we should be hanging out at each other's place." Lizzy rationalized, unusually nervous, afraid he would suggest they shouldn't see each other.

"No more." Darcy said, chin tight and Lizzy felt a pain go through her chest. "From now on we only hang out at your place. I don't want you coming around here anymore, okay?"

The relief that flowed through her at his statement that they would still keep the charade of a couple should make her worried, but all she could do was smile and nod. He had a quizzical look on his face at her reaction but thankfully didn't comment.

"Let's go." He said, opening the closet and pulling both their coats out.

* * *

Authors Notes: Thank you all for the reviews, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story and where it's going.


	9. Chapter 9

**Recap of Previous Chapter**: Another week has gone by. Darcy drops Lizzy off on Friday night to spend some time with Charlotte while he heads to Wickham's bar. Charlotte warns Lizzy that people are unhappy with how fast Will has become friends with Wickham. Lizzy joins Will, Ray and Wickham at the bar, all of whom have been drinking. After a short time, Wickham pulls Will and Ray into his office and Lizzy makes small talk with the bartender, whom she realizes she tutored when they were younger. While Lizzy suggests she talk to Charlotte about an open waitressing job, three guys at the bar start hassling Lizzy. Just when it starts to escalate, Darcy shows up and fights the instigator and scares off his two friends. They spend a few more hours at the bar with Ray and Sherrie, but eventually go back to Darcy's place to watch a movie. Afterwards, Darcy asks her more about her father and her childhood spent in the neighborhood, then opens up about his mother's murder when he was young. After there's a knock on the door, Darcy opens it to reveal two men who've come to get retribution for taking their spot on Wickham's crew. One of them is doped up on meth and holding a gun, the other is Sammy, a friend of Lizzy's who was kicked out of Wickham crew for embarrassing Wickham. Once again, Will quickly gets a hold of the situation, taking out the methhead while Lizzy tells Sammy she'll talk to JJ for him. After Will gets rid of both of them, with a warning that he will shot first and ask questions later if he ever sees them again, he tells Lizzy his place is too dangerous and that they will never spend time there again.

"_No more." Darcy said, chin tight and Lizzy felt a pain go through her chest. "From now on we only hang out at your place. I don't want you coming around here anymore, okay?" _

_The relief that flowed through her at his statement that they would still keep the charade of a couple should make her worried, but all she could do was smile and nod. He had a quizzical look on his face at her reaction but thankfully didn't comment. _

"_Let's go." He said, opening the closet and pulling both their coats out._

* * *

The next month went well for Lizzy; she learned to be comfortable around Darcy - to the point it was getting easy to forget he was an undercover detective and not really Will O'Mara, tough, protective and caring boyfriend. Unfortunately, Darcy was not having an equally benefiting month. His easy beginning with Wickham stagnated, and time after time he was being left out of any job that would get him close to Wickham's inner workings. The worst part was that he didn't know if he had done something to tip Wickham off; if Wickham was suspicious of him in particular, or if he was just suspicious of people in general, but the more times he was looked over the more frustrated he became. Lizzy felt bad for him; she really did want Wickham out of the neighborhood and behind bars where he belonged, but when she was completely honest with herself she was beginning to blur the lines between Darcy and Will and couldn't help also feeling a strange ache when she thought of their relationship, even for what it was, ending. She was ashamed of these feelings, so to compensate she was up for helping him out in anyway.

For the first time ever, she took advantage of her contacts in Wickham's crew, The Family, and even the Uptown Riders to keep up with all the latest news in order to pass along whatever she heard to him. She hoped with this information in hand that he might be able to be a step ahead and use it to help Wickham's crew somehow, to prove his loyalty. She knew she was taking a risk, that if the riders were about to receive a big shipment of drugs or weapons and she told Will, who used the information to intercept the shipment on behalf of Wickham, she would be liable to be labeled untrustworthy at the least and open to retribution at the worst. Unfortunately he came to the same conclusion, and despite assuring him that she wasn't the only one who heard the rumors of deals going down, he didn't like ever putting her at risk. So far had not used any information she had gathered for him; however, the longer it went between meetings with Wickham, the more desperate he became. Lizzy knew he would have to break one of these days.

In the meantime, Ray was as open with him as ever; Lizzy believed what started out as a favor for her had turned into a real friendship on Ray's part. After Ray mentioned something about Will getting them out of a scrape, she had asked Darcy for details. He told her they ran into a group of members from The Family and he and Ray had managed to get away safely without losing the product and cash they had on them that belonged to Wickham. Ray was more forthcoming with the details, telling her that Will had given him the backpack so he could make sure he got away with the product while he distracted the gang members. He didn't know what happened after that, but Will showed up a short time later without a scratch on him. From that moment on, Ray treated Will as a friend rather than his friend's boyfriend. As she usually did, thoughts of what would happen when the truth came out flooded her mind as they grew closer as friends. She felt bad deceiving one of her closest friends, but the knowledge that he could only benefit from Wickham going away kept the guilt from overwhelming her.

"I have to check in with my partner today. I think you should come along and meet him." Darcy said out of the blue one day. Lizzy was surprised, but eager to meet someone close to Darcy, the real Darcy.

"Okay." She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. They were in the privacy of her apartment, of course. He would never give away anything to do with him being a detective unless they were completely alone, and his apartment was forever off limits thanks to that methhead showing up a month ago. He had been on edge for a long time afterwards, insisting on driving her around everywhere until she couldn't take the hovering anymore and told him to back off. It had been their first, and so far only, fight since this whole undercover thing started, but eventually she convinced him that he couldn't watch her every minute of every day and that he would just have to trust that she could take care of herself. He agreed, if she would agree to letting him know the minute she felt like she was in danger, no matter what. Reluctantly, she agreed as well. After that, he dialed it down; with no more attacks coming either of their way, he became more relaxed on the safety front, even if it was replaced with on edge frustrated at the lack of progress with Wickham.

An hour later, Will was driving them to the edge of the city, well away from Wickham's territory. He drove evasively, taking side streets and backtracking. Lizzy didn't have to ask- she knew he was making sure they weren't being followed. Eventually, he pulled into an alleyway and parked his car. She got out with him and he led her, hand on her lower back, to a coffee shop. She watched him, but he casually got in line to order them some drinks, not making eye contact with any of the patrons. She wondered if his partner was already there or not and couldn't help glancing around to see if anyone was giving them any extra attention. As it was, the place was about half full. There were a bunch of young guys working on laptops, a few groups of men and woman sipping drinks, but only two loners who weren't sporting laptops. One was an older man who had the look of a professor. He was reading the newspaper, frowning over it seriously. The other loner was a woman, a tall redhead dressed in jeans and a tight white t-shirt.

To Lizzy's dismay, she was looking at Darcy with interest. Was this his partner? Did he ever mention that his partner was male, or did she just assume he would be? The only time Darcy had ever mentioned his partner was that night when her family had thought she and her younger sister had gone missing and his partner had picked up the police report. Did Darcy say _he_ called to let him know what was going on? Yes, she was sure he did. Right? She would have noticed if he said _she_. Maybe he didn't say either, maybe he just referred to them as _my partner._ She couldn't remember.

"Are you okay?" Darcy asked, looking down at her with a frown. He looked over to where Lizzy had been unintentionally glaring. "Do you know her, or something?"

"Uh, no." Lizzy replied, hoping her face wasn't as red as it felt.

"Ok." He replied slowly. "Iced chai with soy?" he asked, citing her favorite drink. She nodded. When it was their turn to order, he rattled off her order, and ordered himself a tall black coffee, as usual. While he was momentarily distracted, she took another sweep of the patrons. Okay, so maybe the redhead was checking him out for other reasons. Maybe the partner was one of the loners with a laptop, or the professor looking guy.

"So, what's your guess?" Darcy asked. He wasn't looking at her or smiling, but she had come to know his silently amused looks. His eyes crinkled and his face looked… lighter, somehow. She took another sweep of the coffee shop while they waited for their drinks.

"Professor?" she finally guessed. Darcy didn't even glance over to see who she meant before shaking his head. She frowned.

"Redhead?" she hedged, feeling inexplicably relieved where he gave another quick shake without even looking. She studied the rest of the customers, knowing she only had moments before her drink was made; he already had his. Towards the back, next to the out-of-order men's room there was a loner with a laptop, though the laptop was closed at the moment. The shades next to him were pulled down; it might have been a coincidence, but it might also have been intentional, so he was invisible to anyone looking in or walking by on the street. The man sitting at the table was a bit older than Darcy, but had the same basic build. His wavy hair was blonde instead of almost black and he was alert and clean shaven whereas Darcy tended to always look like he skipped a night of sleeping and shaving. He wasn't looking at them, but something about the way he held himself reminded her of Darcy. She turned back to him just as the barista handed her her drink. He rose an eyebrow in question.

"Blonde guy in the back?" she guessed. He didn't say anything, but the side of his mouth curled up slightly. He put his hand on her lower back and led her towards the back of the coffee shop, setting his drink down at the same table the blonde was occupying and taking a seat. She did the same.

"Took you long enough." The man said, grinning at Darcy. "Should I even ask if you were followed?"

"Richard, this is Elizabeth." Darcy introduced them, ignoring his partner. "Elizabeth, Richard, my partner."

"A pleasure." The man smiled. "Darcy's told me a bit about you and how essential you've been to the operation."

"Thanks." Lizzy mumbled, uncomfortable with the praise. She felt like she had done nothing but give him an introduction.

"Anything new?" Richard asked after a pause.

"No. I don't know why, but he's keeping me at arm's length." Darcy shook his head, frustration evident. Lizzy wanted to remind him that Wickham was a paranoid drug dealing methhead and not to take it personally, but was tired of making that argument.

"Well, I have some news on my end." Richard opened the laptop, he flicked his eyes momentarily to Lizzy. "If you want to hear it."

"She's trustworthy." Darcy said without hesitation. "Go for it." Lizzy felt a swell of pride at his faith in her.

"Well, The Temple Family gang is moving a shipment of drugs this weekend. It's supposed to be coming in by truck to one of the abandoned warehouses downtown at seven." Richard said, looking over something on the screen neither of them could see. "We could easily overtake it and you could bring the shipment to Wickham instead."

"Nope." Lizzy shook her head.

"I'm sorry-_nope_?" Richard looked at her with a slightly incredulous look on his face.

"First of all." Lizzy started, cocking her head to the side and giving him a slightly pitying look. "No one calls it the Temple Family gang." She saw Will roll his eyes and she knew why, she had said the same thing to him almost the first day they met. She ignored him. "Second of all, and no offense to your intelligence gathering or whatever, but that story is bullshit."

"What?" Richard asked, looking at her like a four year old who found out Santa wasn't real. "The source is extremely reliable. How do you know it's not true?"

"Let me guess." Lizzy gave a cocky grin. "Your source is Alexios." Richard's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he shook his head with a placating smile.

"Sorry darling, there's no way I'm telling you a confidential informants name, I don't care how much Darcy trusts you." He said, face friendly but jaw set.

"That's okay, I know it's him." Lizzy replied confidently, leaning back in her chair and taking a drink of her tea.

"Elizabeth, stop showing off and tell him why it's not true." Darcy instructed her. She took a moment to pout at him but at his unwavering frown she sighed.

"The Family never receives shipments on weekends. You ever been to the warehouse district on the weekend? It's completely abandoned." Lizzy explained.

"So? Who wants to receive an illegal shipment of drugs in front of a bunch of on lookers?" Richard countered.

"You cops. It's kind of comforting how much you don't know." Lizzy smiled. Richard and Darcy wore identical frowns. "Okay, okay. Look, a warehouse receiving a shipment in the middle of about twenty other warehouses receiving shipments is totally more inconspicuous than one warehouse being open on the weekend, receiving a shipment at seven o'clock at night." Richard continued to frown, thinking it over and obviously wanting to find fault in her story. Darcy looked more accepting.

"Fine. So maybe my informant got the day wrong." Richard proposed.

"The day _and_ time." Lizzy shook her head. "JJ knows Al is narcing on him, so he gave him false information to trap him. If Darcy shows up to hijack the shipment, not only is he not going to get anything out of it, but JJ will probably put it together that Al is talking to the cops and the cops are talk to Darcy." Once more, Lizzy wore a smug grin, leaning back in her chair and sipping her tea.

"Damn." Richard said under his breath.

"I could tell you of a shipment the Riders are expecting. It's not going to be as big as what The Family is expecting, but it's a lot easier to get and, you know, will actually be there." She suggested. Richard looked interested but Darcy, as usual, was already shaking his head.

"No." Darcy immediately said, and she rolled her eyes at his stubbornness.

"Why not?" Richard questioned. "This is exactly the kind of thing that will get you in his inner circle."

"I keep telling him that, but he's so stubborn." She said, addressing Richard but looking at Darcy.

"The part she left out," Darcy said, also addressing Richard but looking back at her with his trademark frown. "Is what the Riders will do to her when they find out _I'm_ the one who stole their shipment."

"Don't you mean what they'll do to _you_?" Richard asked brow creasing in confusion.

"Also." Darcy shrugged like that part was unimportant. "She got the information from her friends in the Riders. If I steal the shipment, they will put two and two together."

"Maybe." Lizzy shrugged. "I'm not an idiot. It's not like I walk up to them and ask they shipping schedule. I'm way more subtle than that, they probably won't even realize they told me."

"It doesn't matter." Darcy said with finality. "We aren't having this discussion again. We will think of something else to gain his trust." Lizzy frowned with frustration.

"Well, I'll keep plugging away on my end." Richard sighed. He pulled an unmarked envelope out of his bag and passed it over without comment. _Fitzwilliam_ was written in an elegant cursive on it, obviously in a woman's handwriting. Lizzy was curious, but knew there was no point in asking about it.

"Give me one of your cards, Richard." Darcy instructed, pocketing the letter without opening it and writing something down on a napkin. His partner complied without comment. He traded Darcy his card for the napkin.

"If you are ever in trouble and if you can't get a hold of me for whatever reason, call Richard." Darcy told her, handing her the card. "That's her cell." He nodded to the napkin he had just handed his partner. "Her distress word is Apricot."

"Apricot?" Richard repeated, smiling.

"Hey." Lizzy defended. "How many times do you use Apricot in a conversation?" While Richard mulled that over, she looked down at his card. Besides the name and number, it was identical to the one Darcy had given her that first night they met. "Wait, Fitzwilliam? Your last name is _Fitzwilliam_?" Once more she addressed Richard but looked at Darcy confusion clear on her face.

Darcy kind of shrugged. "I told you it was a family name. Richard is my cousin."

"Older, funnier, more handsome cousin." Richard added with a brash grin. _Cousins_. Lizzy couldn't help but study his features for similarities. Now that she knew they were related, she realized what first drew her to Richard was his resemblance to Darcy. The wavy hair, if a different color, the same basic bone structure of their face, his height. There were differences too, of course, but they were more alike in features then she was with Jane. Though she had spent less than an hour in his presence, as far as she'd seen, they were as different in personalities as they were alike in looks. There were a lot of little things, but overall Richard seemed to smile where Darcy would frown.

"We should head back." Darcy finished his coffee. "Thanks for the update, Richard."

"Some update. If it weren't for Elizabeth I'd have sent you walking into a situation that got you either killed or exposed." Richard smiled at Lizzy. "You lucked out with this one." He leaned forward, arms crossed on the table. "So, what's a sweet girl like you doing hanging out with these dangerous thugs?"

"Seriously?" she smiled. "That's your line?"

"Line?" he asked, overstating his shock, his hand on his heart. "No, no, no- darling that wasn't a line." He paused, a mischievous smile on his face. "You want to hear a line?"

"Sure." She grinned. "Let's hear one."

"Are you a fruit? Because Honeydew you know how fine you look right now?" Richard asked, his confidence and personality making a cheesy line sound charmingly funny. "Do you have a sunburn, or are you always this hot? You must be a parking ticket, because you've got fine written all over you."

"Okay, okay." She held her hands up in surrender, laughing.

"See Darcy, I told you pick up lines work." Richard gave his cousin a knowing grin and a wink. Lizzy looked over to see his reaction, expecting to see a rueful smile at his cousins antics, but Darcy was frowning at his partner. Lizzy wondered if Richard's comment was some kind of jab at Darcy and felt guilty for laughing. Why else would he be glaring at his jovial cousin over a few cheesy pickup lines?

"You said we have to go?" she prompted when he they continued to smile and frown at each other, respectively.

"Yeah." Darcy broke his gaze and stood, shaking Richards hand. "Good to see you."

"You too." Richard lost the teasing smile for a more sincere one. "Keep yourself safe, okay?" Darcy just nodded, stepping away from the table and tossing his empty coffee cup in a nearby recycling bin. "Elizabeth." Richard held his hand out and Lizzy shook it. "That goes for you too."

"Will do." Lizzy replied, refraining from adding '_as if I had a choice_' and giving Darcy a significant look. "Good to meet you, Richard."

"Likewise." His flirtatious smile was back. "Good to put a beautiful face with a beautiful name."

"Smooth." She smiled back, collecting her empty cup and adding it to the recycling bin. She was more tampered than she felt, aware that there was something unspoken happening between Richard and Darcy that she wasn't getting. Richard was teasing Darcy and Darcy was unhappy with it, that much she could tell; her loyalty to him prevented her from joining Richard in his teasing. "I'm just going to use the restroom before we head back." She told Darcy, putting a hand on his back as she stepped behind him and into the empty woman's room.

After using the restroom and washing her hands, Lizzy stepped to the door, completing intending to rejoin them. That was until she realized, her hand on the door, that she could hear Richard and Darcy talking in low, muffled tones. As she hesitated, debating the morals of eavesdropping, she realized Richard seemed to still be teasing Darcy, who was answering his partner in unamused short tone. She bit her lip, morality thrust aside, and strained to hear every word.

"It was obvious way before today." Richard was saying. "No one mentions how expressive some girl's eyes are unless he has feelings for her. Not that I blame you. I can see why you like her."

"Richard." Darcy replied simply. She was well familiar with his no nonsense frown to know he was wearing it now.

"Come on Darcy, don't be so stiff all the time. If you like her, have a little fun." Richard sounded a bit exasperated, like maybe they had had this conversation before.

Was it egotistical to think they were talking about her? What about that mysterious letter Richard had handed Darcy? Suddenly, Lizzy's heart pounded and her face turned red with shame. Oh God. What if he had a girlfriend? Or a wife? Here she was practically throwing herself at him and he was just trying to get this job done so he could see the love of his life again. Richard was probably telling him to take a few days off his undercover assignment to hang out with her. She put her hand to her warm cheek, praying he would have said something.

"I will not put her life in danger, or mine, to _have a little fun_" Darcy's low voice made it hard to hear him, especially when he seemed to be trying to keep from being overheard. "I am…" Here he seemed to be whispering, Lizzy couldn't make it out. "and that is no situation to throw caution to the wind and _have a little fun_ just because I….Well…"

"You _do_ like her." Richard sounded triumphant.

"It doesn't matter. Nothing can happen. Eventually I'll wrap up this case and go home. What kind of future is that?" Darcy wanted to know.

"Be a little irresponsible for once in your life." Richard pleaded. "It'll do you good. Don't think of the future, think of something that will actually make you happy."

"Thinking of the consequences of my actions _does_ make me happy." Darcy replied with decisiveness. There was a long pause and Lizzy started to push the door open, her features schooled in nonchalance when she heard Darcy say one more thing. "And damnit, stop _flirting_ with her."

It was too late to turn back now; both men looked over at her as she exited the restroom. She just hoped her face looked as innocent as she tried to make it and concealed how fast her heart was beating.

They exchanged their goodbyes once more before Darcy led her back to the car. He took a different route home, but was just as evasive as he had been on the way there. Lizzy was uncharacteristically quiet and prayed he wouldn't comment on it. Her thoughts were flying wild as she repeated, again and again, his conversation with Richard. Was it possible he actually _liked_ her? She had never considered the prospect before. He had made it clear that first day at the diner that he was not interested at all, to the point where he was kind of mocking her for her interest in him. After that, she knew he needed her, but it wasn't like he had ever shown interest when it was just the two of them.

Overall, he was silent and brooding, but she could tell that was just part of his personality. When he was Will, he was a bit more open, a bit more engaging, but she knew others still gave him a wide birth, partly because of his build and reputation for being able to handle himself in a fight, but there was also a dangerous silence about him that showed up in a few other people in the neighborhood, all of whom had proven to be people you wanted to avoid. She had called it an alpha male aura when she first saw him and it was one of the things that attracted her to him. She would never be afraid of him; he was a protector rather than an instigator, she had plenty of proof of that.

She gave herself a mental shake. At this point she would end up driving herself crazy analyzing his every mood and thought, and for what? Even if she _was_ who they were talking about, even if he _did_ like her, he made it perfectly clear he didn't plan on acting on his feelings. For her safety as well as his, and for the fact that sooner or later he would be leaving, never to see her again. What was she going to do with this information other than revert back to how she was in the beginning – wary of his touch and pet names. She had learned to relax in his presence and she couldn't undo all that work, so she told herself to forgot the conversation and look forward to the day Wickham would be taken off the street.

"I hope Richard didn't bother you. He's… well, he's just like that." Darcy finally broke the silence. She glanced at him; despite her good intentions of putting his potential feelings out of her head, she couldn't help thinking that he seemed a whole new person, somehow, with the possibility of having feelings for her.

"No." she replied, a second too late. "He seems nice. I can see the family resemblance."

"Are you implying that I'm nice too? Because, I have to say, that's not a word a lot of people use to describe me." He smiled to let her know that he was teasing.

"I can't imagine why." She grinned back. "You're so open and cheerful all the time." She paused, then added, "I meant more your looks than your personality anyway."

"Really?" Darcy sounded surprised.

"Sure. You've never been told you look alike?" Lizzy asked.

"Not really." He shrugged.

"Huh." She said, not expecting that. "Not like twins or anything, but there's a definite family resemblance." She studied his face while he drove, picturing Richards face and the similarities she saw. "Hey, how'd you get that scar?" she suddenly had to know.

"Which one?" Darcy asked.

"How many do you have?" she asked, distracted by his question.

"A few." He replied simply.

"Ok Mr. Mysterious. I meant this one." She touched it. She could have just said the one by his right eye, but suddenly she had the need to touch him. She wanted to see her effect on him. He jumped a little at the unexpected touch, but that didn't really tell her anything - they never touched casually in private and she was unsure if it was from her touch alone or the fact that someone was touching him at all.

"It's not an exciting story." He let her know after a pause. "I told Ray I was in a knife fight, but it was much tamer than that."

"So how did it happen?" she asked, curious.

"I was moving a piano." He sighed.

"What, like an actual piano?" She asked, amused.

"Richard and I, actually, and a few others." He nodded. "He was goofing off, as usual, and as a result I tripped and hit my eye on the side of the piano. It was a sharp enough edge that it cut my face. I didn't need stitches, but it left the mark." He rubbed it now. She winced, thinking of how close to his eye it was.

"Hmm, no good." She finally said.

"No good?" he questioned, raising the same eyebrow that housed the scar below it.

"No. Stick with the knife fight story; Makes a much more badass story than moving a piano." She smiled at him.

"Good to know." He turned slightly to smile back. Her heart pounded again. Once more, her thoughts went flying. This whole time she had never considered he might actually like her. She had come to terms a long time ago that she had a crush on him, but had never entertained the idea that he might actually like her as well. Suddenly, it was like the pep talk she had given herself of carrying on like nothing had changed had never happened; she wanted to be in public with him, where she was free to touch him whenever she liked.

"So, what's the plan?" she asked hoping she was coming off as indifferent. "Meeting up with Ray and Sherrie, seeing if we can get some face time with Wickham?"

"Sure. I guess so." Darcy replied with a slight frown. "Since when are you so eager to try and meet up with Wickham?"

She frowned as well, not realizing she was giving herself away. "I'm not, but, you know." She shrugged, letting him fill in the blanks. "I'll text Ray and ask him what's going on." After exchanging a few texts, she told Darcy the good news. "He's at Wickham's house. He says to come by."

"Good." Will looked a little brighter at the prospect of meeting up with Wickham. Lizzy was well aware of how screwed up it was that she wanted to meet up with Wickham so she had the chance to spend some time as Will's girlfriend while he was just looking forward to spending some time with Wickham, but she'd take what she could get.

They made it to Wickham's pretty quickly. He wasn't having a party, Lizzy was happy to see when they entered. It was just Ray, Sherrie and another girl who Lizzy didn't know the name of, but had seen hanging around the last few months.

"O'Mara, Lizzy. Good to see you." Wickham smiled as they walked in. "Have a seat." The only spot left was the same recliner Will had been sitting in the first night this whole thing had started, when Lizzy came over to him and dared him to kiss her. Will sat down first and Lizzy gingerly sat on his knee. Well, she wanted to be in public with him so he would turn from Darcy into Will, and she had gotten her wish. No use being wishy-washy and backing down now. She put her arm around his neck, and scooted higher up on his knee, getting comfortable. He put an arm around her waist to keep her steady, his other coming to rest on her closest knee.

Ray and Sherrie greeted them both, and Wickham introduced his newest girlfriend, Jade, to them.

"Ray was telling me about this cabin out of town." Wickham said. Lizzy felt a stab of betrayal. The cabin held fond memories for them and she couldn't believe he would want to share it with Wickham, or at the very least he should know how much she disliked Wickham and keep it from him for her sake. Reason broke through her initial reaction, however. For all Ray knew, she was over her hatred of Wickham. Her actions certainly made it seem that way- she was in his presence whenever she could be, for Darcy's sake of course, but all Ray saw was her asking after Wickham whenever he wasn't around. "He says you all are thinking of going out there soon."

"Yeah, we've been throwing the idea around. Ray's all gung ho about it, but Lizzy and I are kind of attached to the comforts and conveniences of modern living." Will replied with an easy smile.

"Aw, where's your sense of adventure?" Wickham teased. "We'll bring some beers, drugs, and junk food and make a weekend out of it."

Lizzy tensed in apprehension. She knew, as soon as Wickham invited them like it was his place to do so, that they were going to end up going. There was no way Will would pass this opportunity to bond with Wickham out of town. As much as she didn't want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere with a drugged up and bored psychopath - because it was impossible not to be bored sooner or later in the middle of a cabin with no cable, only a VCR like anyone had tapes anymore- as much as she didn't want to go, she knew they would be going.

"What do you think, sweetheart?" Will addressed her like she had a choice in the matter. "You feel like roughing it this weekend?"

She glanced at Wickham. "Why not?" she replied causing Wickham and Ray to exclaim their excitement. "Sounds like fun."

* * *

Author's notes: It's a bit short, but this felt like a natural stopping point. I know a lot of you were asking for some insight into Darcy's mind, so I hope this has helped a little bit. More will be revealed shortly, so thank you for your feedback and I hope you continue to enjoy to the story.


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